“Sustained 118dB”: Denny Hamlin’s 23XI employee highlights extraordinary noise levels in NASCAR

NASCAR is known for its loud and fast cars on tracks that surpass the usual dB levels. On November 23, Denny Hamlin attended a college football game between Ohio State Buckeyes and Indiana Hoosiers at Ohio University in Columbus. Hamlin's 23XI Racing team's engineer, JR Houston, compared the decibel levels of a NASCAR race with those of a college football stadium.

The Ohio State Buckeyes won the game over the Indiana Hoosiers with a 13-point lead. Reflecting upon the event, the engineer shared a bar graph of the loudness of the event and compared it with a NASCAR race. Despite being packed, the stadium could only reach a maximum of 111 dB, with the lowest being 71 dB.

On the other hand, Houston remarked that the minimum loudness of the NASCAR race was 86 dB, and the loudest was 118 dB. Taking to his X(formerly Twitter) handle on Sunday, November 24, Denny Hamlin's engineer shared:

"Yeah, college football stadiums are loud. Today’s Ohio State punt return maxed out at 111dB. That still doesn’t even peak as high as a sustained 118dB for 3 hours of a NASCAR race."

A possible reason behind NASCAR maintaining a higher average loudness could be the loud exhausts of the stock cars. Whereas football's noise graph only went up when a team scored points.

---

“I bleed purple”: Denny Hamlin on his split with his $72B-worth sponsor

Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin has been racing for 20 years in NASCAR and has had the longest sponsor-driver relationship with the $72 billion worth (as per Forbes) shipping company, FedEx. However, both split their ways an hour after the final race of the 2024 season at Phoenix Raceway.

Hamlin made his debut in 2005 as a part-time driver for JGR and has been sponsored by FedEx ever since. The team switched manufacturers from Chevrolet to Toyota in 2008, and since then Hamlin has been behind the #11 Camry.

The shipping company gradually reduced their investment in the Toyota team and only sponsored 13 races this season including the Championship Four race held on November 10, 2024. Following their decision to not return to the sport next year, Hamlin reflected on his longtime partnership with the sponsor and said (via Jayski.com):

"It’s really hard to put into words because I got to know so many of the employees, so many of the executives over 20 years. I bleed purple. Every time that a FedEx truck goes by, my kids are yelling, ‘Daddy.’ That’s some of that brand awareness that I hear from fans, as well. Whether they are going to be on my racecar in the future or not, doesn’t matter, I’m still going to be a part of the purple family," Denny Hamlin said.

The Joe Gibbs Racing driver has secured 47 of his 54 wins under his multi-billion dollar sponsor FedEx's banner. He finished eighth this season with three wins and 12 top-five finishes.