Denny Hamlin blames Goodyear for underwhelming Cup finale races at Phoenix

Denny Hamlin doesn’t see moving the season finale to Miami as a better option.

Denny Hamlin blames Goodyear for underwhelming Cup finale races at Phoenix

Denny Hamlin (Via IMAGO)

The 2023 Cup season is just two races away from the much-awaited season finale at Phoenix Raceway, where a new champion will be crowned. Amidst the wait, demands have started arising from fans as well as some high-profile veterans about the Cup finale being shifted back to Homestead Miami as it was since the early 2000s.

Joe Gibbs Racing veteran Denny Hamlin isn’t a big fan of the idea, as he is confident the racing in Phoenix can simply be fixed if they get the tires right. He pointed out via Action Detrimental Podcast that the fans are making the Homestead demands because the race product in Phoenix isn’t entertaining. Still, he warned them that the same could also happen in Miami.

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There’s been a lot of talk about, ‘Should we move the finale back to Homestead?’ I don’t know. If we run Homestead, you know, because people aren’t in love with the racing product at Phoenix…That’s a Goodyear problem, in my opinion. If we get the tire right, you’ll have a much better race. But they’re trying, I guess. It’s just a really slow process, to try to get it better.
Hamlin said, as reported by ProTalk                                                                        

One of the big stars who has recently asked for the NASCAR finale’s return to Homestead was none other than Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr. He recently admitted that winning the championship at Miami is a much better feeling than doing it at Phoenix. He wants NASCAR to be back there in the near future.

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Denny Hamlin says he would like to see caution-less racing

The Joe Gibbs Racing star pointed out that he would like to see races without any cautions and to go green-flag flag throughout. But he admitted it would create races like last week’s Xfinity race, where Riley Herbst won with a large margin.

Denny Hamlin
Denny Hamlin (Credits: @Joegibsracing/Twitter)

He said that he is one of the people who wants to see such type of racing. Hamlin pointed out that the teams who spend a lot of money deserve to race up front and win with comfortable margins. But this can affect the entertainment value big time.

I’m one of those people. I like when they let it go, no shenanigans. No cautions that were very questionable. Just letting it play out, because there’s a lot at stakes, and the team spent a lot of money to run well, and they deserve, if they’ve got an advantage in the race, they deserve to keep that advantage.

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