Denny Hamlin points NASCAR's Cup problem towards Xfinity Series solution with Next Gen woes

Denny Hamlin has emphasized what he has repeated 'a million times' on his Actions Detrimental podcast about the Next Gen car. His comments came in response to a question regarding Kyle Petty's claims on the Next Gen car.

Petty claimed that while the Next Gen machines modernized the racecar in the sport, it didn't necessarily make the racing better.

Ahead of Richmond, the JGR veteran said that NASCAR needed to get rid of the underbody downforce and put it over the body, so drivers can get behind someone and 'get them off the bottom.' Diving into the aspects of the Next Gen car, which he believed, once fixed, could potentially help in bettering the racing, Denny Hamlin said:

"That's when running the same speed will be okay because you can at least get close to the car in front of you to get them to manipulate them and slow them down where right now the leader has the 100% advantage over the second place car, in Xfinity it's a little bit more even more 50/50," he said.

It's worth mentioning that last year, Denny Hamlin mentioned on his podcast that the Next Gen cars need to get their backs up. He added that they needed a larger spoiler, which would provide them with downforce.

Because of that, the car behind would be able to take the air off the leading car and 'manipulate them.'

Denny Hamlin comments on Kyle Petty's Next Gen claims

Denny Hamlin shared his take on Kyle Petty's comments on NASCAR racing ahead of the Richmond race in Virginia.

During the pre-race press conference at Richmond Raceway, when Hamlin was asked to share his opinion on Petty's take, he claimed Petty was right in the sense that the Next Gen car was 'not a stock car.' The JGR veteran admitted that while the days of bringing a car off the street and racing it on the track are long gone, Petty was 'partially right.'

Denny Hamlin admitted that the Next Gen car has produced some exciting moments, but all in the initial days when there was disparity between teams. He then pointed out the big issue at present with the racecar, as he said, via the aforementioned source:

"Now everyone over time since there's been no development for years and years now nothing's really changed. The field is just tightened up. You can see it from the fastest to the slowest. The first time here in the Next Gen was on average lap time 7-10 somewhere in that range and last time we came here it's three and a half.

"It just the field's just now running the same speed and at a track that where you have to have at least 2 and 1 half to 3/10 of speed to overtake the car in front of you. That means that the first place fastest car is going to struggle to pass the 25th if he just gets put behind him."

Denny Hamlin deemed that to be the 'fundamental part' which would be tough to overcome unless 'some major changes' come with the car or the tire. He claimed that teams and Goodyear are both working on the same.

The #11 driver mentioned that at Richmond, the tire manufacturer was bringing a more aggressive tire, which he found worth applauding. Apart from that, though, Denny Hamlin also pressed on the need to 'fix the attitude.'