Cup Series drivers and Speedway Motorsports Inc. (SMI) officials not getting along with each other isn’t a rare occurrence. Every time a track is reconfigured, repaired, or brought back from the dead, there is some kind of disgruntlement going on. The latest such combat was over the newly repaved Sonoma Raceway. In the ring were Denny Hamlin and SMI CEO, Marcus Smith.
Advertisement
The duo took to social media last week to settle the issue of the Sonoma Raceway’s asphalt coming apart just weeks after it was repaved. The track is owned by SMI and is a crucial venue on the Cup Series calendar. With news of the track’s status blowing up on the internet, Hamlin began a series of back-and-forths with Smith on his X handle. The conversation far exceeded professional limits before ending in a truce.
Getting behind the mic on his podcast after Sunday’s race, Hamlin brought the subject back to the table. He explained the reasons for his dissatisfaction with Smith’s work and what agitated him as a driver and a team owner. “It’s frustrating because we know whenever we go to an SMI track, they’re taking a bulk of the money from the TV revenue,” he said.
65% of the revenue that is generated from the media rights goes to the tracks and the teams get 25%, with NASCAR receiving 10%. Hamlin continued, “I know personally how much that I’ve invested in 23XI Racing. I would venture to guarantee you that 23XI has invested more in this sport than SMI has in the last 10 years. Just this one team has invested more in this sport.”
With charter negotiations ongoing, NASCAR and SMI have been open to increasing the share that teams get from the media deal, courtesy of all the furor, but Hamlin appears to be wanting more than just a larger share of the pie.
Hamlin makes “transparent” admission about the hypocrisy in NASCAR
He continued to confirm on the podcast that neither SMI nor NASCAR has a platform wherein they disclose the money spent on upgrading or reconfiguring race tracks. However, the promotion demanded that the teams be completely open with their books of accounts to reach a mutually beneficial landing spot in the charter negotiations.
His words went, “To be a little bit more transparent with you and everyone listening, NASCAR asked us to open our books once we were doing our contract negotiations with them and said, ‘Here’s what our costs are! This is what we need to survive! You need to give us back what it costs to do this. That is a fair ask for you to cover the cost to put on this show for you.”
From Hamlin’s revelations, it is rather obvious that the root cause behind the arguments with Smith is the charter negotiation that hasn’t yet seen daylight. Hopefully, the promotion, SMI, and the teams can find a way to share the spoils between them with better harmony and professionalism.
