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 the co-owner of 23XI Racing, he had a disappointing day as a driver, experiencing a DNF due to a crash involving all Toyota cars.
The race lacked excitement as the drivers employed a fuel-saving strategy, causing them to run below the optimal speed. This led to two clean stages before the usual chaos seen in Superspeedway races. Hamlin voiced his anger towards how the strategy dictated the race.
During his podcast, Action Detrimental, Hamlin criticized the track’s claim of being the fastest in the world, stating that they race at much higher speeds in other tracks. He found it disappointing that the counterintuitive fuel-saving approach resulted in a less thrilling race.
Hamlin explained the concept of fuel-saving, emphasizing that it begins with the leader slowing down to conserve fuel, which then affects the racers 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.
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