Denny Hamlin Responds to Jeff Gluck's Criticism of NASCAR All-Star Race, Shares Team Insight

Jeff Gluck of The Athletic went on an explosive rant during Sunday’s “ The Teardown ” podcast, ripping NASCAR Cup Series teams have declined the "Run What You Brung" rule package proposal intended for this year's All-Star Race scheduled at North Wilkesboro Speedway next month. Denny Hamlin promised he would elaborate on Monday’s “ Actions Detrimental podcast explaining why the teams turned down the proposal, and he delivered as expected.

It’s primarily about the finances, Hamlin explained. As a co-owner of 23XI Racing, he approximated that implementing the new regulations could cost teams around $2 million. Given that the victor of the All-Star Race receives only a $1 million reward, the expenditure doesn't seem justified.

I understand that Jeff Gluck went off during 'The Teardown' yesterday regarding team discussions about finances," Hamlin stated. "It’s an undeniable truth though." He continued, "Everybody loves having fun and participating in various activities, but someone has to foot the bill? ... To create one of these vehicles, we'll go through three cars. The regulations stipulate using Next Gen components, yet once they're installed, modifications are fair game.

So, our plan is to dismantle each component of the car and reduce its weight or something like that. We're talking about modifying it extensively—bending the frame and making various changes that would render it against regulations at any other race track we visit?

To address issues with short-track racing, NASCAR presented a new package to the teams during the Next Gen era. At iconic venues like Martinsville and Bristol, performances have fallen below expectations. While Hamlin’s fan side was enthusiastic about this idea, his role as a team owner wasn’t supportive of the proposal.

Hamlin claimed that each car in their 21-car fleet cost $300,000. He added it wouldn’t make sense to tear up three cars that can’t be used in a race where the rules are applied.

Denny Hamlin: 'The teams lack sufficient funds'

We've clearly stated that this vehicle costs $300,000," Hamlin explained. "Just do some simple calculations. If I bring all three of my cars onto the track and construct this extreme, non-compliant car, I'll end up destroying it and losing yet another car from my collection. Each door number provides me with seven cars total. Therefore, we're talking about wiping out three vehicles from my lineup without replacements since damaged cars won't be replaced. To receive a new frame, I must demonstrate to NASCAR that the current one is severely twisted or ruined due to an accident.

We previously had 14 vehicles, but now we're left with just seven. This reduction was part of our efforts to cut costs by limiting the number of cars in our fleet. Could you request an additional frame? Absolutely, but doing so would mean spending around $1 million solely on components and accessories. At this point, we haven't even started developing new features. Just to get replacement parts for everything we plan to alter, we'd be looking at a significant financial outlay. Moreover, winning brings in only $1 million, which hasn't changed over the past three decades. It doesn't seem particularly appealing anymore. If one of my cars were to win, I still wouldn't consider it financially viable.

During his outburst, Gluck instructed the teams to "quit whining about the darn money." Hamlin stated that it's unavoidable.

For people such as Jeff Gluck who argue, 'all you discuss is money,' it's simply because the teams lack sufficient funds," explained Denny Hamlin. "This is exactly what we're striving for; this has always been our focus. If teams keep losing money annually, how could they justify raising their hands to accept an additional $1 million loss? That isn't feasible. The current conditions make sustainability impossible, which contradicts the idea of doing whatever one pleases.

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