Denny Hamlin expressed his frustration with the outcome of the Talladega race. The GEICO 500 took place at Talladega Motor Speedway on Sunday, resulting in a mix of emotions for Joe Gibbs Racing. While Hamlin celebrated his team’s victory as co-owner of 23XI Racing, he had a disappointing day as a driver, suffering a DNF due to an accident involving all Toyota cars.
The race lacked excitement as drivers adopted a fuel-saving strategy, causing them to race below the ideal speed. This led to two clean stages before the usual chaos seen in Superspeedway races. Hamlin expressed his anger at how the strategy dictated the race.
During his podcast, Action Detrimental, Hamlin criticized the track’s claim to be the fastest in the world, stating that they race at much higher speeds on other tracks. He found it disappointing that the contradictory fuel-saving approach resulted in a less exciting race.
Hamlin explained the concept of fuel-saving, emphasizing that it starts with the leader slowing down to save fuel, which then affects the drivers around them. Many fans share the frustration with the fuel-saving strategy implemented during the race and the challenges faced by Superspeedways in the Next-Gen era. NASCAR cannot ignore these issues and must find a solution soon.