Denny Hamlin has won three times in the Daytona 500 and has made several inferences over the past three years that the current generation of NASCAR Cup Series platform has taken away his advantage in superspeedway races.
But Hamlin took it a step further on Monday in his Actions Detrimental podcast by suggesting that two of the all-time most prolific superspeedway racers couldn’t have success in this environment either.
“Dale Jr. and Dale Earnhardt would have never survived in today’s superspeedway racing,” Hamlin said. “Wouldn’t have done it. A) they wouldn’t have been successful because of how superspeedway racing happens today. But (B) then to be told who you can and can’t draft with? It’s nonsense, but it’s the world we live in.”
Over the past decade, superspeedway racing has become less every man for himself and more about three distinct groups racing each other for their manufacturers. In this environment, Ford drivers are only allowed to draft with Ford drivers when given the choice and the same is the case for Chevrolet and Toyota.
“We absolutely know that manufacturers play a role in who you draft with and who you don’t. Teams play a role with who you draft with and who you don’t,” Denny Hamlin said. “I hate all of it, just for the record. I’d rather use anybody and everybody to my advantage.”
The Earnhardts combined to win 13 times at Daytona and Talladega.
