After Friday’s Xfinity Series race at Daytona International Speedway, Cup veteran Denny Hamlin was in a mood to hand out plaudits. And with reason.
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Hamlin praised both Parker Kligerman, who took over on Lap 13 for Connor Zilisch and drove the car to victory, as well as the owner of Zilisch’s car, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and JR Motorsports. He got into an esoteric diatribe on his Actions Detrimental podcast, lauding JR Motorsports and questioning the current system of how most drivers get rides in the Xfinity Series.
“I’m really happy for Parker, and it’s just awesome for him to get that call from Dale Jr. [to fill in for Zilisch, who is still recovering from a broken collarbone suffered two weeks ago at Watkins Glen],” Hamlin said, before turning his focus to Junior’s team and the way it operates.
“You know what I love about Dale Jr.? Obviously, the Xfinity Series is, if we’re being honest, it’s primarily made of buy-your-ride drivers, and even most top teams have a handful of those on their roster,” said Hamlin.
“But Dale always seems to have one car that he’s trying to give the other guys a shot, right? The local short track guys or whoever it might be, [are] trying to give them opportunities to showcase their talent, and maybe a sponsor has [an] interest in them. He did it with Josh Berry… and the next thing you know, he got a ride into Cup [with Wood Brothers Racing],” continued Hamlin.
“So, Dale Jr. and Kelley [Earnhardt-Miller] are doing a great job at JR Motorsports of giving that stepping stone for those drivers. There’s a balance. They’ve got to run their business too. So, you’re going to have some pay [drivers who bring money and sponsorship] on your roster and some that you feel like you can have on natural talent,” he added.
Hamlin then cited Parker’s success to talk about Junior’s eye to identify the right talent. “But it’s good to see Parker get that call because Dale Jr. picked who he thought could win in that car at that track,” he said.
“He’s like, ‘I’m gonna go pick the best available driver,’ that being Parker Kligerman at Daytona to replace Zilisch during the race. And Parker is one of the better superspeedway racers in the Xfinity series over the last few years,” added Hamlin.
So then why isn’t Kligerman racing full-time?
Hamlin then seemingly anticipated a listener calling in to ask: “If Kligerman is so good, why doesn’t he have a permanent full-time ride?”
Hamlin explained, “Guys, this is a prime example of how broken this business model is. The guy [Kligerman] makes more talking about the drivers [as an analyst and pit reporter for NBC Sports] than actually being a driver
“That is the true system, and how broke it is that he could have a ride, but it doesn’t pay anything. And he would be taking a massive pay cut by being a star in the Xfinity Series versus being an announcer for the Xfinity Series,” he added.
“That is the crux and the problem that will continue to hamper the best talent and the best opportunities [from] making it in the Xfinity Series. Just because many of the rides are going to be taken up by pay guys and there’s just not going to be that many opportunities,” said Hamlin, highlighting once again the issue of talented drivers missing out.
“You’re going to need something like this where one of the top teams is like, ‘Okay, well, I’m going to be okay with two or three pay drivers and then maybe I got one seat for whoever I actually want or whoever I actually think is pretty good,’” Hamlin added.
The No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing driver hinted that he hopes maybe things will be better when the Xfinity Series switches and starts to be sponsored by O’Reilly Auto Parts beginning next season.
