The 2025 Cup Series season has barely begun, and Denny Hamlin is already back with controversial opinions. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver was discussing the state of plate racing in modern times on the Actions Detrimental podcast when he said that neither Dale Earnhardt Sr. nor Dale Earnhardt Jr. would be able to win on superspeedways today.
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He pointed, “Dale Earnhardt and Dale Jr. would have never survived today’s superspeedway racing. Wouldn’t have done it. A, they wouldn’t have been as successful because of how superspeedway racing happens today. But then, to be told who you can and can’t draft with. It’s nonsense. But it’s the world we live in.”
While his intention was not to insult the iconic father-son duo but to explain the difficulties of superspeedway racing, many perceived it that way on social media. It is no secret that the fandom understandably becomes an unruly crowd when defending the Earnhardts.
Dirty Mo Media posted the video excerpt from the podcast on X and asked, “Would Dale Earnhardt be able to win with today’s superspeedway package?” One fan answered, “Didn’t watch but the answer is yes. The greats will always be able to adjust and overcome obstacles. You put any great driver in a car from any era and they will figure it out.”
Didn’t watch but the answer is yes. The greats will always be able to adjust and overcome obstacles. You put any great driver in a car from any era and they will figure it out.
— Billy Kingsley (@ElCaminoBilly) February 11, 2025
Another wondered what Dale Jr. would think about Hamlin’s take. They wrote, “what’s @DaleJr response to Denny saying he and Dale Sr wouldn’t survived this plate racing version of today….” It wasn’t long back that Dale Jr. was wreaking havoc on superspeedways. He won 10 races at Daytona and Talladega in his career, two of which are Daytona 500s.
He also finished as the runner-up nine times in these tracks. Fans used these numbers to argue that Hamlin’s words aren’t properly backed. One fan wrote, “Terrible take. You are acting like JR won the 500 30 years ago. He raced during the slam draft days. Tandem days ect…..”
Another added, “Jesus Hamlin is either ridiculously stupid or has severe memory loss. Jr’s best drafting partner was Stewart who raced for JGR. Jr didn’t care who he raced with if it meant getting to the front…” The misleading question and the harsh criticisms against him forced Hamlin to intervene and explain himself.
He responded to the anger showered on him by stating, “A little misleading question there. I im basically saying they would HATE today’s style of drafting and would not be as successful as they were.”
The point that Hamlin was trying to make was that the method in which Earnhardt and Dale Jr. drafted in their days isn’t possible any longer. Drivers team up based on their manufacturers and don’t have their individual success alone in the forefront of their minds. It isn’t hard to see why the Earnhardts would not only have a hard time in this setting but pretty much hate it.
