The Biggest Winner From Netflix’s Full Speed, Denny Hamlin Lays Down the Blueprint for Season Two

NASCAR rolling the dice with Netflix turned out to be a jackpot move. Just a couple of weeks before the engines roared to life for the Daytona 500, kicking off the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series, Netflix dropped “NASCAR: Full Speed” on us. This docuseries was a deep dive into the lives of drivers, giving fans and even fellow racers a peek behind the curtain like never before.

The focus was on a handful of drivers who made it to the playoffs last season, sparking a bit of envy among the others who are now itching to up their game and grab a spot in the next season’s lineup, should Netflix green-light a sequel. And then there’s Denny Hamlin, spilling the beans on what could be cooked up for season 2. Does this chatter from Hamlin mean we’re getting an unofficial heads-up on a second season? It sounds like this could be the case.

Denny Hamlin’s got some interesting thoughts on how to kick off the next season of the docuseries

After the docuseries hit Netflix, NASCAR’s social media went through the roof, according to a report from Social Blade. We’re talking a bump of 2,484 Twitter fans, a whopping 53,298 new followers on Instagram, and another 5,543 folks hitting the like button on Facebook—all of this just a week after the series made its debut. And the icing on the cake was that the series was chillin’ in the Top 10 on Netflix in the States and even caught some eyes abroad.

On top of making waves online, the docuseries gave NASCAR’s viewership a nice boost. While Formula One and IndyCar this season are hustling to pull in a million viewers for their races, NASCAR’s just cruising along, marking its fifth straight year of more folks tuning in. That’s what you get when you pair up with Netflix and drop a hit series like Full Speed right before race season kicks off.

And now, with Denny Hamlin spilling the beans on what Netflix could dive into for season two, it’s pretty much a wink and a nod that we should buckle up for another round. Hamlin’s playing it cool about coming back for a second lap with the docuseries, especially after a killer season where he’s already won Bristol and Richmond races after acing the pre-season Clash at the Coliseum. But he’s got some thoughts on how to switch gears for season two.

He mentioned, “I think just really getting into the technical side of it – what you saw was the drivers and their personalities and whatnot, but you didn’t see is what makes those cars go around in circles and what makes this driver better than the other and what makes this car better than the other.” Sure, the series shined a spotlight on 23XI Racing’s crew chief Bootie Barker and his dynamic with Bubba Wallace, but it barely scratched the surface of the technical wizardry and the nitty-gritty that separates the front-runners from the pack in this era of spec cars.

Hamlin’s keen on diving deeper, saying that those are the stories that need to be told. On the surface, they nailed it, but digging into the technicalities of why this team or that driver stands out could really add something special. On the flip side, NASCAR’s big name, Chase Elliott, isn’t quite sold on the idea just yet.

Chase Elliott’s on the fence about hopping into a possible second round of the series

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Truth be told, Elliott hasn’t even caught the first season yet. He’s not too keen on opening up his life for the camera crews the way Denny Hamlin and the folks over at 23XI Racing—Tyler Reddick and Bubba Wallace—did in the first go-round. Chatting with Dale Earnhardt Jr on his podcast, the Dale Jr. Download, when asked about the prospects of joining the second season of NASCAR: Full Speed, Elliott was like:

“I don’t know! Obviously, I didn’t do it last year. I haven’t watched it at all, so I think my first step to answering that question would be to watch a little bit of it and just see how bad they would piss me off being around all the time.”

Read More: Denny Hamlin on His Controversial Restart – “I Wasn’t Going to Let Them Have an Advantage”

He said that while it might not be what everyone wants to hear, honestly, he is just in NASCAR to race fast and do his thing well. If he thinks something might mess with that, he’d probably take a pass. Maybe as the season heats up and Elliott finds his groove, he might swing the door wide open for the cameras if he feels it won’t throw him off his game.