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Denny Hamlin has been one of the most outspoken advocates for NASCAR to better itself and evolve into a sport that reaches new heights. The 23XI Racing co-owner and driver of the Cup Series has not shied away from controversial topics and is known to speak his mind more often than not.
The ongoing problems with the new Next Gen cars that debuted in the highest echelon of the sport this year have been a major point of concern for drivers lately. As more and more drivers have indicated throughout the start of the season, the impact of the new racecar seems to be higher than what drivers have felt ever before. Concussions sustained on track by drivers such as Alex Bowman and Kurt Busch have been proof of the statements given by drivers on the seventh generation car's safety.
In typical fashion, Denny Hamlin did not mince any words when he spoke about every driver's input in forcing the governing body to make changes and said:
“I know a lot of young guys are just happy to be here, but they ain’t going to be happy when their brains are scrambled for the rest of their lives.”
The 41-year-old went as far as to question NASCAR's leadership, and a fresh one was overdue.
Watch the interview below:
Denny Hamlin's views on probable fixes for the Next Gen Cup cars
Ahead of a test scheduled by NASCAR to understand the rear clip and bumper of the new seventh-generation cars, Denny Hamlin thought that the whole concept was flawed from the start. The NASCAR veteran, who also has in own team in the highest echelon of stock car racing, thinks the complete Next Gen package needs a design overhaul.
He elaborated further and said:
“It needs to be redesigned everywhere. Front, middle, rear, competition, the whole thing needs to be redesigned. We’ve got a tough Martinsville race coming up. It’s going to be tough. This thing is just going to get exposed about how bad it races. That’s just a part of it. Competition and safety, we’d like to have it all better, but certainly we just took a step back in safety and competition this year.”
The Tampa, Florida native also touched upon how the new cars have been affected by dirty air in some of the races such as Martinsville, urging NASCAR to improve that part of the car as well.
Meanwhile, Denny Hamlin finished in the top 5 in yesterday's Yellawood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.
