Denny Hamlin Exposes the “Fragility” of NASCAR O’Reilly Series

The NASCAR second division, the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, has found itself in a concerning position. Despite producing races that is more entertaining than Cup events, the series has failed to an identity and it financially delicate. Joe Gibbs Racing Denny Hamlin talked about this factor on the latest episode of his podcast.

The veteran was discussing the chase leader Sheldon Creed’s surprising move to Sam Hunt Racing for the 2027 season and he highlighted how a handful of teams are the difference between the series being elite instead being another ARCA type championship. The difference makes are teams like SHR, JGR and JRM, who fields strong competitive cars, unlike other teams in the garage that doesn’t have anything real to offer.

And listen, God bless Sam Hunt, Ryan Sieg, Dale Jr., and Joe Gibbs because if any one of those dominoes fall, and that series looks like ARCA… I’m serious. They are providing all the decent running cars, and then there’s everyone else. I don’t know what happens with Tommy Joe Martins’ team. It sounds like his move to Ford sounds like it’s a good positive thing. I love seeing what they do with their equipment week in, week out.

Denny Hamlin said on his podcast.

Further talking about the point, Denny Hamlin pointed out that if Dale Earnhardt Jr. woke up one day and decided not to run his five JR Motorsports cars in the second division, it would have a massive negative impact on the whole second division Industry. The drivers changing teams every ither year, with majority of them being forced to pay for their rides by bringing in sponsorship shows how fragile the situation is.

Yeah, I just, I’m telling you that series in my mind, it’s just really fragile. Like if Dale Jr., for some reason, he’s not going to, but like, could you imagine those five cars not on the grid? It’s just, it’s not good… you keep seeing these drivers go from ride to ride. They’re switching teams like musical chairs every year. And the unfortunate truth is that 80% of those drivers in the Saturday races are paying some sum of money to the team owner to drive those cars.

Denny Hamlin added via Actions Detrimental.

Denny Hamlin insists fans perspective of the series in wrong

Later in the same conversation, Hamlin talked about how the fans see the series. He pointed out that the fans see it as the solid one of the three national series when it is the most fragile when it comes to finances. The pay driver model of the series, even with the premier sides, also shows the broken nature of the championship.

I know it looks like the O’Reilly Series, from the fans’ perspective, is the most solid series that NASCAR has, but I’m telling you it is the most fragile when it comes to finances. Yeah, listen. The top 10 drivers in O’Reilly should be there because the owners just want them to go win races, but that is not the model that the O’Reilly Series is right now. I mean, that’s just not the truth.

Denny Hamlin said.

The comments from the veteran racer are on point and shows how the series needs some real investment to come in. It would be interesting to see how the second division can overcome the struggles and develop their own unique identity.

Also Read: Joe Gibbs Gives Brutally Honest Verdict on Denny Hamlin’s 2026 Title Chances