Denny Hamlin made some harsh remarks on his latest podcast, criticizing the competition in the Daytona 500 and NASCAR Cup racing overall, even taking aim at the media covering the sport. Admitting he was in a sour mood during Monday’s recording of Actions Detrimental with Denny Hamlin, the three-time Daytona 500 winner expressed frustration after finishing 24th following a crash in the final lap, despite being in a strong position to win.
A reflection on that final lap illustrates just how close Hamlin was to victory.
William Byron is a back-to-back winner of the Daytona 500! 🏎️🏁🏆🏆pic.twitter.com/lGWU4xZwn7
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) February 17, 2025
Hamlin shared his frustration: “This is one of these mornings I woke up full Clint Eastwood, ‘Get off my lawn.’ I’m just so f****** angry. I woke up pissed, and it’s about everything. Now I know why drivers retire. I have that feeling. I spent decades learning how to do this, watching the best, studying it and understanding it, and I’m going to get rewarded for this, and then we all crash at the end. That has become normal in the Daytona 500. That’s what kills my enthusiasm for the whole thing.”
He emphasized that NASCAR superspeedway racing has shifted to being more about luck than skill, a sentiment he feels extends to the postseason format as well. “I hate the fact of how much luck is involved. … It’s just a matter of wrecks at superspeedways. I feel like the Daytona 500 is a microcosm of the sport in general when it comes to how we crown our champion now as well.”
The veteran driver, who has 54 NASCAR Cup Series victories, attributed his frustrations to NASCAR’s design changes over the years that promote pack racing. Though it looks appealing on television, it leads to chaotic situations for drivers. “It just for me has gotten to the place now … the entertainment of it has far overtaken the sport of it. And I don’t know how we reverse things,” he stated. “Now, they’ve slowed us down so much to where every car is just planted to the ground. Which is why we’re going down the straightaway just absolutely ramrodding each other from behind. It’s a product of the cars are way too easy to drive. They have way too much grip, way too much drag, and what it does is it creates a great optic on TV — these cars are two-by-two, three-by-three, but ain’t nobody passing nobody.”
This type of racing encourages dangerous maneuvers, resulting in massive wrecks. Hamlin called out the media for their failure to criticize drivers responsible for these incidents. “You will hear all week from media, ‘That’s just superspeedway racing,’” he remarked. “And all that is, is a cop-out for those who make stupid moves. No one holds anyone accountable anymore. You chalk it up to, ‘Eh, it happens all the time.’ How about we actually call out what it is? Are the cars making us do this? Are the drivers doing this? It’s a combination of both, I believe. But, I’m losing my love of the sport of it because I feel like it’s going by the wayside for the sake of entertainment. Why has it become expected that we’re all going to take each other out?”
Hamlin lamented that luck has become an excessive factor in the Daytona 500. “It’s just such a f****** crapshoot now. I hate that what is supposed to be our most prestigious race is luck. And I don’t care how else you want to say it. It is luck. You just have to avoid the wrecks. … I don’t know anymore. I’ve grown really, really agitated with how we’ve gotten here.”
