Denny Hamlin calls on NASCAR to stop ARCA racing at Daytona

Denny Hamlin didn’t have much praise for the ARCA Menards Series after the show they put on this past Saturday afternoon at Daytona International Speedway.

As part of the celebration of the NASCAR season beginning each season, the ARCA Menards Series tries to give motorsports fans a bit of an appetizer before the Xfinity Series and Cup Series take center stage. However, this year’s iteration was filled with wrecks, and the racing wasn’t exactly anything to write home about.

It got so bad at one point that Hamlin even took to X during the race to hope casual fans don’t mistake the ARCA race for one of NASCAR’s major series: “Wonder if the casuals at home watching Fox right now are thinking that this is NASCAR. Yikes,” he posted, as the Ride the ‘Dente 200 went through a calamity of errors.

As the weekend came to a close, Hamlin followed up on his prior statement by panning the race once again, hoping that series’ decision-makers re-evaluate their future plans, and choose not to race on a track like Daytona ever again.

“Don’t get me started on the ARCA race. Can we get those guys off that track? I’m sorry, but inexperienced drivers should not be running 190 miles an hour at Daytona,” Hamlin stated, via his Actions Detrimental podcast. “It’s just not — it’s unsafe for all. It’s just that that that race, it does not belong on that track. That is a lower series that needs to be running on short tracks.

“You want to put them on an intermediate? Fine. But, you know, those drivers have not nearly enough experience to be on that track, running those speeds. I know it’s easy for us to just, you know, trash on it, but it’s not their fault. They’re trying to do everything they can.

“I just don’t — I just don’t believe in, you know, putting very inexperienced drivers on a track running that fast is a good idea, for anyone’s health or wellbeing.”

All told, it’s tough to argue with what Hamlin is saying. The race was a borderline embarrassment to see play out, and if there’s a chance it could be confused with the NASCAR Cup Series, it would certainly turn casual fans away.

Maybe changes will be made in the future. One thing is for sure, we know where Denny Hamlin stands on the matter, and his view likely won’t be changing anytime soon.