After the race in Martinsville, Denny Hamlin once again decided to call out the poor racing product on short tracks, urging NASCAR to fix the problem. On the recent episode of Actions Detrimental, the #11 driver not only pointed to the lack of passing issue, but he also gave an example from the recent race to support his claim.
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Hamlin mentioned that with the Next Gen cars, which all drive more or less identical to each other, NASCAR has also created a Next Gen of drivers that “all drive the same.” He added, “Because it’s clear the optimum way to drive it. So, how are you going to create passing?”
“You will not.”
The Joe Gibbs Racing driver mentioned how toward the end of the race in Martinsville, he was trying his best to knock Austin Cindric out of the way, who was holding him up. But no matter how hard he tried, Hamlin simply couldn’t get Cindric out of the way. “I’m trying to knock this guy up the racetrack. I can’t do it. Can’t reach him. So instead, I have to just sit behind him and let the laps just go away,” he revealed.
“That is a problem. That’s why we don’t have the cautions, the wrecks, anything that we used to have from back in the day. We can’t even reach the bumper of the cars. The racing needs to be fixed. … If we sit back and do nothing, then shame on us. We deserve whatever’s coming to us in the long run.”
Dr. Denny Hamlin has advice for NASCAR’s passing problem
While the sport simply hasn’t been able to figure out a short track package that would make the racing more exciting, Denny Hamlin believes it would take just one change to fix all the problems. And that is to increase the horsepower.
“It is hard to pass because we are all in the gas so much,” he said as per NBC Sports. “You have to get us out of the gas, whether through the tire or the horsepower. That combination is what makes passing so difficult.”
But increasing the horsepower is neither easy nor something NASCAR is ready to try as a possible solution. “You have to factor in what are the costs involved as well, right?” NASCAR’s Steve O’Donnell said.
“It’s not as simple as just upping the horsepower. You better be ready for all your (manufacturers) to be onboard. It better make sense for any potential new (manufacturer) and technology.”
For most NASCAR drivers, the answer to fix the short-track problems is to increase the horsepower. But for NASCAR, increasing the horsepower isn’t even “a short-term answer.”
