Denny Hamlin Confesses He Has Been “Horrible” at Daytona

Joe Gibbs Racing veteran Denny Hamlin has shared his thoughts on the poor form he has been going through at Daytona in the new era.

Denny Hamlin Confesses He Has Been “Horrible” at Daytona

Denny Hamlin and Chris Gabehart (Via IMAGO)

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Before the start of the Next-Gen era, Joe Gibbs Racing veteran Denny Hamlin was considered one of the best Superspeedway racers in the garage. He earned the tag by winning three Daytona 500’s. The veteran is yet to win a plate race in the new era and last week’s Coke 400 at Florid was no different, as he was involved in multiple wrecks.

These factors have made the No:11 Toyota driver to make a tough admission, as he pointed out that he has been horrible at restrictor plate races, especially Daytona. The stats back these claims up, as in the last eight races at the iconic venue, Denny Hamlin finished out the top 20 six times and the best finish has been P17.

In the latest episode of the Actions Detrimental podcast, Denny Hamlin shared his thoughts on the incidents, tire failure and car damages that ruined his races, making it not an ideal situation. The result made him admit that his results at Daytona has been horrible since his last win at the venue, just like how it was for him in all stages of the Coke Zero Sugar 400.

I mean it could have gone both ways with the superspeedways, but certainly just not ideal. In the first stage of both of those races we ended up crashed. I mean my record at Daytona, guys, has been horrible. Horrible.

Denny Hamlin said via Actions Detrimental.

The veteran seems to have given up on his hopes of winning at the track and has shifted his focus to waiting out the potential chaos and take advantage of the situation. Next-Gen car makes it hard to make moves during the traffic and for him at the moment, the only way go upfront is the pack getting thin, opening up more faces.

I just, do I just stop racing and just wait on the field to thin? Because that’s what, to me, watching the race from about 50 car lengths behind for most of the time, it seemed like the race, and we’ve talked about it on this podcast before, really took a turn when the field thinned out. There was more room to move.

Denny Hamlin added.

Denny Hamlin explained how Ryan Blaney won at Daytona despite Next-Gen car issues

In the same conversation, Denny Hamlin explained how despite all these challenges with traffic, Ryan Blaney won the race from P13, with just two laps to go. He pointed out that Cup cars compared to the Xfinity Series cars has an issue with passing, as with racing being too close, there are no space for the drivers to explore.

Ryan Blaney and Denny Hamlin
Ryan Blaney and Denny Hamlin (Via @DAYTONA/X and IMAGO)

Fortunately for Blaney, he was able to find the space, using the chaos at the end of the race to advantage, getting over the logjam that occurs where the race goes three wides. The patient move the No:12 Ford driver made, earned him some luck at the end, which he took with both hands and changed the whole playoff dynamic.

Where a lot of times in NextGen we just get logjammed in this two- or three-wide racing. It looks good but you can’t really go anywhere. But at the end of the race there was enough chaos up front or enough air moving around where it created some good passing and it looked like a very entertaining race from my seat.

Denny Hamlin added.

There is one more plate race left in the 2025 season, the R-8 race at Talladega, where both Denny Hamlin and Ryan Blaney might line-up against each other. It would be interesting to see how everything is going to playout for the star driver in coming years.

Also Read: Team Penske Insider Sends Bold “Don’t Overlook” Joey Logano Warning to the cup grid