Denny Hamlin Gives Blunt Reality of Where Joe Gibbs Racing Stands as He Reveals Hendrick Motorsports Gave Him a “Tough Time” in Vegas

If there’s one thing that was clear after the Las Vegas Cup race, it is that Hendrick Motorsports are pretty far ahead of its competition in NASCAR this season. The 1-2-3 finish was a big statement from Mr. H’s team, and their superiority over the other teams wasn’t lost on their competitors either, especially Denny Hamlin.

The 23XI Racing co-owner recently opened up on his thoughts on what made Hendrick Motorsports and Chevrolet in general so superior compared to other teams which have Toyota, and Ford as their manufacturers.

Hamlin also revealed the three major components which are key in making a racecar in NASCAR go fast, leaving the competition in the dust.

Denny Hamlin was left in awe of the Hendrick Motorsports cars in Vegas

Speaking in a recent episode of his podcast show Actions Detrimental, Denny Hamlin opened up on the jaw-dropping result from Hendrick Motorsports at Las Vegas Motor Speedway as well as his struggles with competing against them in his #11 Toyota FedEx Camry.

“This car has a lot of drag but it’s not through the spoiler so you don’t get the giant run down the straightaway unless you’re one of the Hendrick cars…oh my goodness gracious! I had a tough time trying to hold those guys off when I got the lead,” Hamlin said. “I look up at the start-finish line, I was like, ‘Which way are they coming? The left or from the right?’, like I just can’t hold them off on the front straightaway, but they were very fast.”

“Man, HMS was just smoking fast. Chevys, in general, were really fast, but Toyotas had a great run as well. We were kind of that ‘next in line,’ we were probably the third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh-best cars after that.”

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Hamlin on his observations on Ford, and what makes a racecar fast and different

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After expressing his thoughts on HMS and what made them fast, Hamlin opened up on the struggles of Ford teams in Vegas, and why it was that way. The veteran took up the example of Joey Logano and his performance in the qualifying to make his point.

“Joey qualified well, he’s really good at qualifying,” Hamlin said. “Joey’s times were way off, which surprised me when he got the pole.”

“But man, they threw the green flag, and they went straight to the back.”

For Hamlin, what happened “really falls right in line” with his theory of who has the strongest aerodynamic body, which in this case, is Chevrolet. He claimed Toyotas are a “little bit behind them”, and while he had thought Ford made a jump, they actually didn’t.

The veteran recalled how he mentioned the Fords would be strong in Daytona qualifying because of their cars having less drag, but on a downforce side, Hamlin said it’s “meh.”

“It’s not great,” he added.

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