Veteran Denny Hamlin Stands Apart From Fellow Drivers as He Backs NASCAR’s Phoenix Trials

Once considered a favorite for the Cup Series, Denny Hamlin hasn’t been impactful so far this season. The Joe Gibbs Racing star will, however, be looking to finish P1 in Phoenix and he has exhibited a little faith in NASCAR’s new aero package to help him do so. A lot of drivers have said that there is no discernable difference in how the cars drive, suggesting that there might not be much difference from last season while running shorter tracks. Hamlin stands on the other side of the fence.

One thing is for certain, Denny Hamlin would not overstate something like this. He has been among NASCAR’s staunchest critics in the past, never indicative of any favoritism. The interesting thing is that the JGR star did not say that short-track racing is fixed, but that things cannot get any worse than they used to be.

Denny Hamlin believes air blocking is part of the problem

He has a valid point when he says that as well. Ever since the Next-Gen car came into existence, short-track racing has been a disaster. Forget passing, cars struggled to even run close to one another. This has irritated every driver in the competition and, finally, NASCAR has come up with some sort of solution. There have been reviews of it being not good enough to make a difference from former champions like Chase Elliott and Martin Truex Jr, but Hamlin is not on that bandwagon.

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“I think I can safely say that it’s not going to be worse than what we had. What we had was really bad for sure. This is a 10% fix like if…back in the old heydays where aerodynamics didn’t matter and this is…what he had was 100, this is like 90. So it’s gonna be a very small change but anything that can allow us to run closer to each other, to cross each other without the air blocking that we’ve seen over the last few weeks, I think that’ll be a good thing. I certainly think that this package, this tire is heading in the right direction,” the 3-time Daytona 500 winner said.

But what is wrong with air blocking? It certainly isn’t illegal. Denny Hamlin also believes that there’s nothing wrong with it, but the fact that it gives the leader such a huge advantage is a matter of concern. Since they’re on the throttle all the time, any kind of disruption with the air in front can have a huge impact on those behind. That’s exactly how Kyle Larson kept Tyler Reddick in Las Vegas.

While he acknowledged NASCAR’s aero update, the Joe Gibbs Racing star was not that thrilled about the update Toyota made before the season, which is to come out with the new Camry.

Joe Gibbs star exposes Toyota upgrade as pre-season hype proves unwarranted

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The car looked so stunning that a lot of people believed that it would be unstoppable, but after 3 races, the reality is clear and Denny Hamlin did not shy away from dropping the truth about the new Camry. Speaking to the media after the Las Vegas race, the driver of the #11 said that the car still felt the same as the engine was still the same. Bodywork also plays a big part in a car’s speed, but it would seem that isn’t the case with Toyota.

 “I really am just trying to get all the information in it. I can learn about it and be better. Again, this is not a life-changing, earth-shattering change, it’s still the car itself is the same. The body changed, the engine didn’t change, and suspension or any of that. So, I just have to learn what it takes to make speed out of it,” Hamlin said.

“I think it’s more chances to win. Any car manufacturer or team could always have one car that is capable of hitting at any given weekend. But when you have multiple cars up front, that’s usually the sign that your team or your manufacturer has hit on something correct, versus just the set-up, the individual teams put in. So, I’m going to look to, do we take up the bulk of the top-five or top-ten, if we do that, then I think, we’re probably going to be where we want to be,” he added.

It will be interesting to see if the new Camry body design runs any better with the new Aero package, especially given the drivers’ reviews.

Read More – Phoenix Poses to Be Toyota’s Comeback Track After Practice; Joey Logano Continues His Solo Run Dominance