Denny Hamlin calls for major changes to Iowa Speedway, rips Next Gen car

Denny Hamlin was not a fan of Sunday’s race at Iowa Speedway. He shared some major gripes with the track during the latest episode of his Actions Detrimental podcast.

Evidently, Hamlin believes the way the track was paved, combined with the Next Gen car, contributed to a less-than-stellar event: “The way they paved the track, it just makes it so fricking narrow compared to the Iowa that we used to know,” Hamlin stated. “I think that they ought to look into paving the whole track to widen it out, because even in the Next Gen, it was just so fricking narrow. Couldn’t pass.

“It’s just so narrow that it’s hard to get out of the wake of the car in front of you. This Next Gen car is by far the worst car ever designed to race in traffic.”

That’s not the only reason though. Hamlin added that the tire combination didn’t help the racing either. All of these factors meant there wasn’t much racing for the lead, and that doesn’t sit well with the NASCAR Cup Series veteran.

“I think it has something to do maybe with the tire, the combination of the surface and tire,” Hamlin added. “I think that traffic plays a big factor. I don’t think I’ve ever been in clean air at that racetrack. I haven’t gotten good restarts there. I just feel like my car is not under me at that track. You like to feel the compression of the car, the tires actually gripping. But these tires? They just chatter across the racetrack. With it being a newer surface and a harder tire, it just never gets into the track.

“Now, the guys that are up front in the first couple of three positions have got enough air to push the car down, compress it and get the tires to saturate. Everybody else in the field is just riding around, skating on that racetrack. The only time you see a remote challenge or battle for a lead is when they catch the back of the pack. … That’s the issue with it. … Challenging the leader in this car is just a such a tough task, because the leader has such an advantage.

“… How in the world do you expect us to put on a good race when everyone’s gonna run the same speed, and they’re gonna run the same speed from the beginning of the run to the end of the run? It just makes it extremely difficult. Really, the only time you see those passes is when chaos breaks out, either on restarts or when the leader catches the back of the pack. That’s what we as drivers are most frustrated about.”

As you can tell, Denny Hamlin believes NASCAR has to go back to the drawing board when it comes to Iowa Speedway. Perhaps he’ll have more fun in New York this weekend, as the Cup Series will head to Watkins Glen, a track he won at in 2016.