Denny Hamlin Prophesies the Worst Possible Chicago Disaster & William Byron Doesn’t Disagree

With NASCAR’s grand entry into the 24 hours of Le Mans at the centenary event in France, the racing world witnessed the might of NASCAR as the Next Gen Chevy proved it could do more than just hang with the GTE spec hypercars. And now with that spectacle in the rearview mirror, NASCAR nation is roaring full steam ahead to its very first street course race in Chicago.

While the racing community eagerly awaits the street race, Cup Series veteran Denny Hamlin makes a bold prediction about the upcoming race. Speaking on his super popular Action Detrimental podcast, Hamlin welcomed his special guest, the HMS speedster, William Byron to the sets. The two uncovered the possible, rather inevitable, carnage that could unfold on the street course, while Byron also agreed with Hamlin’s bold prophecy.

Denny Hamlin makes a bold prediction, mentioning an impending and inevitable chaos

While NASCAR nation has had road courses over the years, ranging from Sonoma, Watkins Glen, or the iconic Circuit of The Americas, fans certainly are excited about the Chicago street course set to take place next weekend on July 1 and 2. Speaking on his popular podcast to Hendrick Motorsports driver William Byron and his co-host Jared Allen, the 42-year-old highlighted the dangers of the new street course.

As the city and the authorities are busy scrambling to make the final arrangements, NASCAR’s 2-day racing extravaganza next week is stated to bring in more the 50,000 people to the city and a massive revenue as per sources. While the organization has allotted major funds for its first-ever street course, welcoming fans from all corners, the Joe Gibbs Racing veteran mentioned the notorious turn 4 that could be the game changer.

Not only did Hamlin expose the dangers lurking on the track, but he also revealed his game plan heading into the race. Hamlin explained, “My crew chief tells that the best strategy is if we’re not in the top 5, we need to be dead last because when the wreck happens at turn 4, these turns have one lane, he’s like they’re all gonna just pile in and so you just wanna be far enough back to not be in it.” 

Highlighting the tight nature of the track, the veteran also emphasized the tight turns that could spell disaster for the entire roster as a simple pile-up in these critical areas could mean a never-ending race. He said, “So, I’ve got to get to the top 5s somehow, you better have rocket booster on this thing, so yeah I think it’s, I just hope that we can stay green long enough, right? You don’t want to lose momentum with the yellow flags within the last 10 laps of the race ‘coz it might not ever end.“

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Hamlin furthermore added, “I mean we could have an unprecedented 9 green white checkers to finish the Chicago race ‘coz it just funnels down to one-and-half lanes in some portions of the track,” while Byron agreed with Hamlin about the dangers of the track, simply chiming in with a “yeah” at times. He, however, underlined the importance of such “crossover” races. 

William Byron reinstates the importance of Chicago to the sport’s growing fanbase

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Over the years, the glorious sport has certainly evolved while traditionalists and old-school fans of the sport despise these new amendments including the introduction of Next Gen cars, the younger fans the sport has amassed over the years truly embraced these changes. And there lies the significance of road courses and street courses.

Though older fans want iconic tracks to come back to glory—North Wilkesboro being a case in point—newbie fans simply love these Cup cars in a road setup, speeding through tight turns and going neck and neck on the straights. And the 25-year-old sensation’s opinion proves this.

Reflecting on the significance of such modern tracks within the city limits, Byron said, “You know, I think being closer to cities is good, you know, I think just being younger, I think I get a lot more engagement from my friends when its around close markets like Nashville, a lot closer to the city and most places so, yeah we need more of that. We need that crossover to get fans engaged.” 

With the city making its final arrangements for the much-awaited event, NASCAR’s Chicago Street race is certain to go down in history as one of the sport’s most-watched events in the recent times.

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