NASCAR superstar Denny Hamlin has expressed his frustration with the tracks during the Cup Series playoffs as he continues his pursuit of being crowned champion.
The driver from Joe Gibbs Racing is eager to break his curse, as he still awaits his first championship win despite a stellar career. At 43 years old, Hamlin's status as a motorsports legend is already cemented, having consistently been a strong contender in the Cup Series for the past twenty years.
However, the three-time Daytona 500 winner currently holds the dubious honor of winning the most races without securing a championship. The driver of the No. 11 Toyota Camry XSE celebrated three victories during this season's regular term, sparking renewed hope that he might finally clinch a title.
But his performance during the playoffs has been less than stellar, with only one top five finish and two top ten finishes in his six post-season appearances. Now, Hamlin has shared his frustrations about the playoffs so far, criticizing both the schedule and the tracks.
On the 'Actions Detrimental' podcast, he said: "When it comes to my gripe with the schedule and things like that, it's because, you know, my whole life I tried to be a Cup Series champion.
"I wanted to get to NASCAR first, and then, you know, back when I was training for this, or moving up the ranks, all I ever did was oval-track racing, because that's what NASCAR racing was. We raced on ovals, and they were just all different sizes.
"You had real small ones, real big ones, and you know, back in the day, there was a road course, and when I started, there were two, you had Watkins Glen and Sonoma, and that was it. It was just such a small part of the schedule, it was like just a - not an exhibition, but it was like, 'Hey, this is not what we do, but we're going to do it this week.'
"Now, you know, we took Atlanta and turned it into a superspeedway. We've changed the game, and we've changed - you can argue that superspeedway racing, it definitely still has elements of skill to it. It's got a big element of luck in it.
"So yeah, I get frustrated when I look at the schedule and it's like, 'Wow, so you put two superspeedways in there and two road courses in the first six races.' We get two conventional NASCAR tracks that we've been, that's our roots, that's what we've always done and that's what made NASCAR great is circle track racing."
He added: "So yeah, this schedule never really suited me or my skillset. I'm not great on road courses, I need to get better at them, I'm trying, but I'm also 43 years old. There's a point where there's diminishing returns on the time and effort that I spend to try and get better at road courses."
Hamlin is determined to stay focused on the ultimate goal, setting aside his frustrations in pursuit of the Cup Series championship. He expressed his resolve, saying: "If it's going to continue to be such a big part of crowning a champion, then yeah, I've got to do what I've got to do."
He also shared his relief and excitement about returning to traditional NASCAR racing: "But now, it's why I'm overjoyed with, 'Yes, I'm still in it,' and now we're going back to traditional NASCAR racing, which is what I wanted to be, is the best guy who knew how to make circles faster than everybody else.
"So, it's just - we made it through the first six races, with all these wild cards, with the 14-points penalty for that engine. We made it, and now the sky is the limit."
Local News
