Denny Hamlin Uncharacteristically Extends Partnership Proposal to NASCAR As Short-Track Troubles Continue To Outwit Sport Veterans

As the 2021 season was about to end, the NASCAR fandom screamed at the top of their voices, demanding more short-track action. But the usher of the next-gen cars brought up a new problem: they don’t run quite well on the short tracks. Today’s stock cars need ample space to run seamlessly. Even for seasoned drivers like Denny Hamlin, it becomes quite difficult to pass an opponent on a short track, which is not multi-groove.

Although the RTA looks after the long-term interest of the racing teams, as a team owner, Denny Hamlin perhaps felt like there could be a better way to go about handling the frequent changes in the rules of the sport. Needless to say, the immediate rule that everyone seems to be talking about is the introduction of thicker treads in the Goodyear tires. And Hamlin had something to say about it as well.

Denny Hamlin revealed the burden on the teams

Every modification made in the new car is made by trial and error. Nobody really knows what will work well and what won’t. On one hand, there is this uncertainty revolving around these cars and on the other, there’s the issue with short tracks. However, the latter seems to bother the Joe Gibbs Racing driver the most.

There is no way for the drivers to change their groove and ride higher or lower in order to overtake a fellow racer. Adding to it, the Xfinity 500 at Martinsville will witness the cars running on a horsepower of 450, 300 less than the usual 750 threshold. This will surely decrease the throttle power of the cars and that might help them to leverage the turns. But then, overdriving at the corners and crashing into the outside wall is so dangerously easy. On top of that, accelerating to full throttle after making a turn could become a bigger challenge. So what is the solution?

Denny Hamlin has none. However, he had a couple of suggestions. According to Hamlin, NASCAR could partner up with the team owners and work together while it brought about any change in the existing rules. “We probably need to be partners in everything, so when it comes to rule changes, things like that, I think it’s a 50-50 thing,” he said.

“It’s what I would like to see because we really didn’t fully design this car ourselves and we have to go back and fix things. Certainly, the burden falls on us,” he explained.

Denny Hamlin felt like the key to short-track racing is off-throttle time. With the reduction in the horsepower and the increase in the tire grip, it could become incredibly difficult to maintain the throttle while shifting the gear around the corners. The 23XI owner said, “It’s tough because we’ve cut 300 horsepower out and we’ve added grip and anytime we do that, there’s more on throttle time.”

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But why is the next-gen car so different on the short tracks? Owing to the increasing dependency on aerodynamic thrust, even a mistake made at these short tracks does not give an opponent the opportunity to clear their competitors. Let’s dive deeper into the topic, look at the issue from a driver’s perspective, and see what NASCAR is doing about it.

What is NASCAR doing to address the short-track racing issues?

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During the pre-race press conference, Denny Hamlin opined that the quickest thing would be to work on the gearing. Previously, if a driver made a mistake in the short tracks, it would give others in the traffic a chance to pass him. But with the addition of the 5th gear, drivers are now able to downshift and recover any loss of momentum which ultimately hurts the short-track package.

Aero and drivetrain are the two major issues causing problems on short tracks. Nevertheless, NASCAR hasn’t ignored the issues. In an episode of Stacking Pennies, Steve O’Donnell, Racing Development Office at NASCAR, explained how they were working towards fixing the issues with short-track racing.

“This car is different for sure. But it presents some challenges on both short tracks and road courses. So we’re looking at a lot of things around the aero. Certainly looking at some things around the tires, but you know that’s going to be our big focus in the offseason is both road courses and short tracks for sure,” said Donnell.

Although the next-gen car levels the field and the prospect of the competition, it also comes with its downsides, especially on the street circuits and the short tracks. During the same media interaction, Denny Hamlin assured the grid, “There’s a lot of smart minds that are trying to figure it out.”

“Certainly in my opinion, it’s not an aero-situation, for sure. We’re going to run quite a bit different tire this weekend that will undoubtedly be very hard to pass because of the speed it runs with the lack of falloff,” he added.

Sunday’s race at Martinsville Speedway will be one worth watching directly from the grandstands. With it being the second last race of the season and with the new tire rule instated by NASCAR, a lot of anticipation goes into this race. The good news is that the wait is almost over!

Read more: Denny Hamlin Takes a Mean Jab At His Championship Drought As NASCAR Insider Hopes to “Eventually Get it Right”