Denny Hamlin claps back after Jeff Gluck's rant on NASCAR All-Star Race, offers team perspective

Jeff Gluck of The Athletic went on an explosive rant during Sunday’s “The Teardown” podcast, ripping NASCAR Cup Series teams for turning down the “Run What You Brung” rules package proposal for next month’s All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway. Denny Hamlin promised he would go into detail on Monday’s “Actions Detrimental” podcast as to why the teams rejected the proposal, and he didn’t disappoint.

It’s a money thing, Hamlin said. The 23XI Racing co-owner estimated that it would cost teams $2 million to run the outlaw rules package. The winner of the All-Star Race earns a $1 million prize, meaning the investment simply isn’t worth it.

“I know Jeff Gluck had a massive rant last night on ‘The Teardown’ about the teams talking about the money. But it is a reality,” Hamlin said. “Everyone wants to have fun and do all these things, but who is going to pay for it? … We are gonna destroy three cars to build this car. Under the rules, it was like you have to use Next Gen parts, but you can do whatever you want to them.

“So, we’re going to destroy every piece and part of that car and make it lighter or something. Like, we’re going to modify it. Going to bend the chassis and do all types of things to this thing that will make it illegal at any other racetrack that we go to?”

NASCAR proposed the package to teams in an effort to help fix the short track racing product. In the Next Gen era, performance at historic tracks such as Martinsville and Bristol hasn’t been up to standard. The fan in Hamlin welcomed the proposal; the car owner did not.

Hamlin claimed that each car in their 21-car fleet cost $300,000. He added it wouldn’t make sense to tear up three cars that can’t be used in a race where the rules are applied.

Denny Hamlin: ‘The teams don’t have enough money’

“We’ve been very transparent in the fact that this car cost $300,000,” Hamlin said. “Do the math real quick. If I put my three cars on the racetrack and just to build this wild, illegal car, I’m going to destroy it and now I lose one more car out of my fleet. I only get seven cars per door number. So, that’s three cars that are wiped out of my fleet that I’m not going to get a replacement for because I’m not going to get a replacement car if the car has damage to it if you wreck it. You have to show NASCAR that it’s wrecked, bent or whatever and you need another chassis. I can’t afford to lose that out of my rotation.

“We used to have 14 cars, now we’re down to seven. The whole cost-cutting thing was to shorten up how many cars we have in our stable. Can you ask for another chassis? Sure, but I’m gonna spend $1 million just on parts and pieces. We haven’t even developed anything yet. So, just in parts and pieces to replace all this sh*t we’re gonna modify, we’re gonna spend a sh*t ton of money. And it only pays $1 million to win. It’s paid $1 million to win for 30 years. It’s not that cool anymore. Even if one of my cars won, I don’t see this as even remotely breakeven proposition.”

In his rant, Gluck told the teams to “stop crying about the freaking money.” Hamlin said it’s impossible not to.

“For those like Jeff Gluck that complain about, ‘well, all you talk about is money.’ It’s because the teams don’t have enough money. This is what we’re fighting for. This is what we’ve been talking about,” Denny Hamlin said. “If you continue to lose money year after year, why would you just raise your hand and say, ‘sure, I’ll take another $1 million loss.’ You can’t do that. It’s not sustainable. It’s not possible under the parameters set in front of us and that was that do whatever you want.”