Denny Hamlin is coming out of the Charlotte Roval weekend with a lot to say about the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series schedule. Hamlin is moving on to the Round of 8, but he is borderline furious about the changes to the 2024 schedule.
There are a few key changes to the schedule. Texas gets a spring date. Atlanta is now after the Daytona 500 in February. Busch Light Clash returns. Chicago returns. Watkins Glen and Atlanta are now added to the playoffs. Iowa joins the party. Darlington is the regular season finale and there is a two-week Olympic Games break.
On his Actions Detrimental podcast, Hamlin was not happy about the changes.
“There were some moves by NASCAR in the playoffs that I didn’t agree with either,” Hamlin said about the schedule. “I didn’t see many that thought this was a good idea in the spirit of competition.”
He addressed multiple counterarguments as well. Like, “NASCAR did it for fans to have a good time.” Well, why are we racing in Georgia in February?
“I don’t even know that they even put the fans first that much. I mean putting Atlanta in February.”
The biggest complaint seemed to be moving the Daytona 400 regular-season finale and swapping it with Darlington. And for what? Labor Day weekend in South Carolina, apparently.
“I don’t know, I just can’t make sense of the change, not just moving it out from the regular season, but moving it, one week,” Hamlin explained “I guess what explanation, again, I’m just using [NASCAR’s] Ben Kennedy’s media availability here to try to rationale with the thinking of this. Is that, well Labor Day weekend at Darlington, means a lot. Who gives a f**k about that? I don’t get it!”
He had more complaints than just that.
Denny Hamlin thinks NASCAR has ‘too many races’
Following NASCAR is a full-time gig. Fans, media, and teams know it all too well. Media starts in January. Then the races start in February. The only break drivers get is pretty much half of November and then December.
As Denny Hamlin ranted, he came to a realization, he thinks the schedule is too damn long.
“Well, it has become abundantly clear to me then, that we have too many f***ing races,” Hamlin said to his co-host Jared Allen. “We’re trying to fit this schedule into it’s gotta start here it’s gotta end there and we’re trying to jam 38 races into what should be 32 at the most. We’re never going backward because NASCAR makes way too much money per week, but it’s clear that we have these scheduling problems because we have just too many weeks. Way too many weeks.”
Hamlin went as far as to say the almost 40-week-long schedule has hurt his mental health as well. Although, it was unclear if he was being tongue-in-cheek in the moment.
“The schedule it just, takes its toll on everyone, it’s taken a toll on my mental health, clearly. I am unwell when I look at this schedule. I haven’t even gotten to the fact that they’ve added another road course and another superspeedway to the playoffs.”
Then, he got to the argument that the schedule tests drivers limits and skills. He’s not a fan of that argument, either.
NASCAR schedule is not testing driver skill
Denny Hamlin isn’t unaware of why NASCAR does the things they do. It is all for money and views on TV. That’s what pays the bills and why NASCAR is so valuable. When you can’t get football on TV, NASCAR is the next best thing for networks in terms of sports.
It is great that NASCAR has such a varied schedule. It does test drivers and makes the best of the best some of the most versatile drivers in the world.
“You are not testing the driver’s skill,” Hamlin said. “They’re testing how good our luck is.”
As his thoughts on the schedule came to a close, Hamlin sounded like he was going to have a mental break. As a car owner and a driver, it puts things in a different perspective.
All he sees are wrecked cars and frustration in the year ahead.
“It feels like I am, I must be going crazy because am I the only person that sees that they are just continuing to make this gimmicky and gimmicky and more gimmicky every single year?” Hamlin rhetorically asked. “I mean, they might as well have us run backwards in a figure-8. You know, the champion will be whoever has the biggest balls and who doesn’t lift in a figure-8 race. That’ll be our champion! We might as well.”
What are your thoughts on the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series schedule? Does Denny Hamlin have a point?
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