“I hate the fact of how much luck is involved in NASCAR now”, said Denny Hamlin after the 2025 Daytona 500. The season-opener was filled with plenty of action, drama, and controversy, with the outcome leading to an unsatisfying end for the Joe Gibbs Racing driver. Despite leading ‘The Great American Race’ in the final lap, an incident with Cole Custer resulted in a crash for the veteran, who was forced to settle for a 24th place result. However, the 44-year-old believes that NASCAR has bigger concerns going into the new campaign.

Questioning the quality of races, the playoff format, and the importance of luck, Hamlin left no stone unturned in revealing NASCAR’s biggest drawbacks in the Cup Series. Will the sanctioning body be receptive to criticism and make changes? Or will they double down and maintain the status quo?

Denny Hamlin takes a dig at NASCAR’s socials

Controversy, drama, and talking points. According to Denny Hamlin, that’s what NASCAR wants fans to focus on in the aftermath of the races. Gone are the days when wins were a product of quality racing, where a driver used skills and sheer speed to overcome his rival on the racetrack. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver believes that the sport has evolved to “look good, not be good”, relying on wrecks, luck, and controversy to dominate the headlines. It’s not a good look for the sport, that won over motorsports enthusiasts because of the racing prowess of Dale Earnhardt, Richard Petty, and plenty of others.

Claiming that NASCAR is well aware of its drawbacks, Denny Hamlin revealed the tactics used to cover it up in the latest iteration of the Actions Detrimental podcast. He said, “Why do you think NASCAR’s social posts 20 times Dale Earnhardt’s victories back in the day? Or Dale Jr.’s? You knew that was the best driver and best team on that day and you saw them be surgical.” The Earnhardts were the kings of superspeedways, to say the least. Dale Earnhardt Sr. holds 10 wins at Talladega Superspeedway and 34 at Daytona (most all-time). Meanwhile, Dale Earnhardt Jr. has two Daytona 500 wins and has led to most laps on drafting tracks in the Xfinity Series.

Hamlin feels that modern-day NASCAR doesn’t allow for such strategic dominance, especially after how the 2025 Daytona 500 ended. He added, “You knew they were just better than everyone else. And now, how do you create when luck is such a big factor? You don’t. Stars are created on the racetrack by showing greatness. I just think that it’s so watered down now that’s it not. They’re going to show clips of the wreck. They’re not going to show you clips of William Byron’s winning move.”

William Byron’s ‘winning move’ was sitting in 6th on the final lap, waiting for a wreck, and then dodging it on his way to the finish line. Not something you would find on a highlight reel for the ‘Best moments at the Daytona 500.’ Hamlin is right. Modern-day superspeedway racing is more about avoiding a crash to win rather than drafting your way to victory. And NASCAR loves showing crashes, so they are more than happy to post that as the highlight of the race as Byron’s move was a by-product of that.

In many ways, the last lap incident was the deciding factor in the race, which prompted William Byron to secure a win. There was an element of luck involved in the Hendrick Motorsports driver finishing first in the season-opener, which is why NASCAR would show videos of the wreck instead of the 27-year-old’s winning move.

For many long-term enthusiasts, the current reality of NASCAR is a bitter pill to swallow. The existing playoff format no longer rewards consistency like it did in the yesteryears. Instead, drivers can game their way into the Championship 4 by getting results at key moments. That’s exactly what Joey Logano did in 2024, while Kyle Larson, who won six races, wasn’t even in contention at Phoenix Raceway. While that might not appeal to the ‘purists’ of the sport, it does generate plenty of drama and controversy, which seems to be the approach NASCAR is going for.

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Hamlin makes suggestions to improve superspeedway races

Denny Hamlin is frustrated and rightfully so. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver was desperate to get a result at the Daytona 500, an event he had won three times before. The Florida native is currently going through a winless streak that has now extended its run to 26 Cup Series races. While there were plenty of encouraging signs from his performance in the season-opener, a 24th-place result is all that he has to show for it, despite leading six laps and being poised for victory right until the end.

The veteran racer believes he knows what it’ll take to improve the quality of races on superspeedway tracks. Sharing his thoughts on the Actions Detrimental podcast, Hamlin said, “If I could just throw out my suggestion is NASCAR to please, please, please get drag out of these cars. Reduce spoiler size, please. I just think that we have got to get drag out of these race cars. It will fix so many things. I believe it will fix a little bit of the fuel mileage races that we have. Yes, you’re always going to want to have the least amount of time on pit road, but it will allow us to pull out of line when we get moves to get runs.”

Reducing drag and spoiler size would allow for the cars to be faster, which in turn leads to tires wearing much quicker, making pit strategies key to winning a race. Currently, the fuel mileage method of racing at superspeedways is not something Hamlin is good at or a fan of. He has openly stated, “It’s that in the next-gen era, it’s been horrendous. The finishes have been bad, and I think it’s because of… next gen with fuel saving and all that stuff like that’s not my forte and I’ve got to learn to be better at it.”

There is also an underlying motive behind Denny Hamlin’s views. Explaining the reasoning behind wanting changes to the Next-Gen cars, the three-time Southern 500 winner said, “I just want to see us do something different to put the sport back in it and take luck back out of these prestigious events.” Even though the season is just beginning, the 44-year-old doesn’t want to leave much to ‘chance’ in what could be his last opportunity to win the Cup Series. Do you think Denny Hamlin’s opinion would change if luck went his way at Daytona? Let us know in the comments below!