The much-awaited 2024 Coca-Cola 600 whipped up waves of excitement among fans. In addition to being the longest race on the Cup schedule, NASCAR’s crown jewel event had added flavor this season. HMS driver Kyle Larson was ready to be the fifth driver to attempt the 1100-mile Double, running both the Indy 500 and the Coke 600 on the same day. But Mother Nature crippled his ambition, and annoyed drivers like Denny Hamlin.

After a four-hour delay at Indianapolis, the thunderstorms followed Larson to Charlotte. Just when he arrived, NASCAR waved a red flag due to lightning, and eventually, that signaled the end of the race. Some reasons were presented, but Denny Hamlin recently refuted them.

Denny Hamlin counters NASCAR’s weather excuse

Kyle Larson had a streak of bad luck on Sunday. He finished 18th at the Indy 500 after a speeding penalty, and could not even turn laps at the Coca-Cola 600. The Cup race was halted after 249 of 400 laps. NASCAR dispatched its Air Titans, jets, and blowers to dry the 1.5-mile race track, hopeful of a late-night resumption. Unfortunately, they soon called off the race citing high humidity and that there would be no laps before 1 AM.

But Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin is confident that the track would have dried soon enough. On a recent episode of ‘Actions Detrimental’, Hamlin recalled his discussion with crew chief Chris Gabehart. “He (Chris) said that we need to stay close because the track is drying quicker than we thought…We thought we were within 30 minutes of going back.”

Denny Hamlin’s 23XI Racing partner Michael Jordan thought the track was still wet though. But Hamlin explained his side, further cementing his argument: “Of course, it was wet, but I think he’s giving you a very broad statement…It was damp in some areas…There’s wet tracks, damp tracks, and dry tracks. It was on the verge of being dry really quickly.” 

He also stressed the primary reason for resuming the race, “But man, you had so many people there, you had a sold-out crowd.” Hamlin gave a time frame for the race resumption: “I thought by what I saw that by 12 ‘o’clock, we would be racing…At 12:15, the track was dry.”

This is not as late as Formula One’s race timings. Denny Hamlin went on to compare NASCAR’s late-night cancellation with F1’s night owl events. “They started an F1 race by the way at 1 AM in Vegas, 1 AM Eastern they started. Hell, they ran practice I think at 3:30 in the morning in Vegas…I mean, what does it matter? People were there.”

F1 executives do not give priority to a good night’s sleep. However, despite Denny Hamlin’s rebuttal, NASCAR had valid reasons for calling off the race. 

Some people needed to go home

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Kyle Larson may have lamented that he could not start his engines at the Coca-Cola 600, but other drivers and fans complained that a late-night race could very well have been on the cards. However, the drivers and race teams were not the only ones working on the track. Many were clocking 24-hour shifts, arriving early in the morning to prepare the facility. Local law enforcement officers also had late-night duties directing traffic.

This is what Elton Sawyer, Senior VP of competition, pointed out to justify calling off the race. He said NASCAR was totally up for resuming the race, but the broader perspective stopped them. “We were up for it; we attempted to get the track dry, it just wasn’t going to come in…As all of that started unfolding, looking at the timelines and the amount of racing we needed to complete the race, 151 laps, we were looking at well past 2 a.m., which just didn’t feel right for our competitors or our fans alike, and all the workers that had been there all day.”

Even though Denny Hamlin approved a late-night race, such a scenario would not have been supported by the other toiling employees at the race track.