As we look at the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season, the short-track package has gone through many ups and downs. After an impressive show at the Bristol spring race, where the tire wear-off was so high that NASCAR had to issue teams an additional set to finish the race, it went back to the normal short track racing in the second Richmond race. Other than Austin Dillon wrecking Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin for the checkered flag, the race was mediocre. Three drivers led the highest amount of laps in the 400-lap race.

Even the playoff race at Bristol was a similar disappointment when Kyle Larson led 462 laps out of the 500 and won the race. Amid the ups and downs, Martinsville pulled a surprise. With the tire falloff being high, we saw some high-octane drama unfold on NASCAR’s shortest short track. While many also loved the last short-track race of the season, a NASCAR veteran is of a different opinion. He recently dwelled on the Cup Series finale, calling it mediocre!

NASCAR needs to improve its short-track package in 2025

Well, the race was nothing short of a thriller, especially the last stage. Tyler Reddick, in a four-wide move to get in the top 5, nearly caused a wreck. Post this, the leaders of the race pitted, but HMS’s William Byron stayed out and pitted after 10 laps. However, to his good fortune, that was exactly when Zane Smith crashed, and all drivers came in again for fresh tires, giving Byron the lead. But after the restart, Christopher Bell chased down Byron as both went side by side. As the two battled Logano, seeing an opening, a three-wide move passed them both for the lead.

The race eventually had a thrilling end with the Peske teammates, Logano and Ryan Blaney, fighting it to the end. While Blaney nearly caught Logano by finishing only 0.33 seconds behind the 2024 Cup Series champion, according to a veteran, it still puts NASCAR’s short-track package in question. Well, is he wrong? After all, in the race, only two drivers led the majority of the laps. Christopher Bell led 143 and Joey Logano led 107 in the 312-lap race.

Recently, Hendrick Motorsports’ veteran ex-crew chief Steve Letarte was in conversation with Denny Hamlin on the ‘Actions Detrimental’ podcast, where he said, “I do need a little something different at Phoenix, though. Like, I’ll be the first guy, so I hate when I see a good race; everybody says it was a bad race, and the drivers, you know, Denny and I will disagree on those at times because from where he sits, sometimes it isn’t a good race, but I’m from the fan standpoint I’m like I disagree that was entertaining. This one was a little sleepy right like a second a falloff wasn’t really enough.”

While the NASCAR community thinks that this is the best you will get in Phoenix, Letarte differs from his. “I think that’s easy to say it can always be better. They said the same thing about Martinsville and that was the best Martinsville we’ve had in 5 years…Here’s my thing I don’t think that you’re going to change Phoenix and it’s going to all a sudden race like Miami because it’s not it’s Phoenix. This is like the crew-chief driver argument all the time right like you can always be faster trust me well the race can always be better it doesn’t have to even be a bad race. Like I don’t I wouldn’t label this as a bad race I just wouldn’t leave saying okay that’s good enough I think it needs to be worked on.”

Well, if it was mediocre racing, what’s the solution to the problem at Phoenix? A final race cannot be average, especially when it’s sold out months in advance and fans fill the track to see a blockbuster end to the season. Not to worry, Denny Hamlin has a solution! The JGR veteran is yet again blaming the car as he suggests changes.

Denny Hamlin’s solution to the Phoenix problem

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Hamlin is a short-track maestro with an average of 10.6 in his two-decade-long career. Hamlin, in the Phoenix race, started 14th but could only finish 11th. The Virginia native believes that Phoenix is worthy of hosting the championship final, but the car isn’t. The #11 said, “It’s a great venue. I hate it that the racing is not better because it’s a great racetrack. The layout’s very unique it gives us some options on restarts we got we’re racing multiple lanes. But it’s we have a car problem right and we’re trying to fix it through some other things.”

What’s the fix? Hamlin thinks the Cup cars need to take some inspiration from the Xfinity ones. “We can talk about what the fix is but I believe in my heart of hearts we got to get the back of the cars up so the rear car can manipulate the spoiler of the front car. Like the Xinity cars but right now we’re just we plant the back and then you just it there’s no effect that the rear car has on the front car. We’ve got to make it to where the back car can manipulate the front car, that’s how passes get made um 90% of Xfinity passes get made. By someone’s just jamming their nose right behind somebody gets them loose boom goes on,” he added.

The Richmond race has lost a spot in the 2025 schedule to the Mexico race, so that’s one short-track race less, but Phoenix isn’t going anywhere. According to the schedule, the 2025 finale will also be held in Phoenix, so NASCAR really needs to look into making their race package better there. All season, the racing organization has been experimenting with tire variations; in some cases, it has worked, some it hasn’t. Maybe, as Hamlin suggests, the problem lies in the next-gen car.

So the question remains if we are going to see some significant changes to the car in the next season. Maybe upping the horsepower? What do you think is the solution?