3x Daytona winner Denny Hamlin questions NASCAR's hesitation with horsepower: "The engine bills are the same"

NASCAR Cup Series driver for Joe Gibbs Racing, Denny Hamlin has once again called out the governing body for their hesitation towards making the Next Gen racing product better during the 2024 season. The 23XI Racing co-owner sits in a unique position to analyze the sport from behind the wheel as well as from the business perspective.

Taking into account Hamlin's multiple approaches to the sport, the #11 Toyota Camry XSE driver still calls for the seventh-generation Cup Series racecars to receive more firepower under their hoods. NASCAR has long worked on aerodynamic solutions to improve the new car's issues with dirty air and drivers unable to overtake at certain types of tracks.

With varying degrees of success found by the governing body, mostly inching closer towards the negligible side, Denny Hamlin feels there are no drawbacks to engines gaining horsepower in the sport. He elaborated on an episode of his popular podcast Actions Detrimental after last Sunday's (March 10) race at Phoenix Raceway:

"The engine bills are the same. I've been saying this forever. The engine bills are the same now as they were when they (the engines) were 900 (horsepower). We buy engines, we know."

Hamlin further elaborates on what he thinks is behind NASCAR's hesitation and adds:

"We have the stuff to make that 750 horsepower engine optimum and be able to run for multiple races. It's not like we cut this horsepower just so we could run them more races. It's part of a bigger plan from NASCAR but we just don't know what the plan is. There's just not been enough transparency of why the horsepower has been reduced."

It remains to be seen what comes of the drivers and team owners such as Denny Hamlin's outcries for more powerful engines in NASCAR.

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Denny Hamlin analyzes NASCAR Cup race at Phoenix from a fan's perspective

Addressing fans' claims of the NASCAR Cup race at Phoenix Raceway not being exciting enough, Denny Hamlin spoke about what spectators can and should expect from the sport.

Admittedly a little lost on how to justify fans' claims, the JGR driver elaborated on Actions Detrimental:

"I don't understand quite what the fans' problem was with the race itself. Short of the last stage where Christopher Bell went through the pack. What's wrong with that? He drover from twentieth to take the lead and win by 5 seconds."

NASCAR Cup Series heads to Bristol Motor Speedway next weekend for the Food City 500.