Denny Hamlin reveals how much a NASCAR Next Gen car costs: 'We're racing Lambos'

As an owner in NASCAR now with 23XI Racing, Denny Hamlin is getting a first-hand look at just how much cash you need to run a NASCAR team.

While it’s always been expensive, Hamlin shed some light on the wild expense for teams that is the NASCAR Next Gen car. Of course, you kind of need one to race, but it’s going to cost a pretty penny for your team.

“When we initially got the budget for the Next Gen car, this was I guess two, two and a half years ago, the cost was right around — which it was coming in below what we were hoping it to be, or NASCAR was hoping it to be — it was around $225,000,” started Hamlin, via Actions Detrimental. “I think, all in right now, now this is a rough estimate, but I think it’s closer to accurate than not, the Next Gen cars probably, all in, with the parts, pieces, all the other stuff you have to purchase to actually make it roll and a driver sit in it, we’re probably around $350,000. We’re racing Lambos out there.

“That’s why like, I hate to say this, but at the end of the race, I saw a big crash at the start-finish-line, and I rolled back around and I was like, ‘God, please don’t let it be any of my cars.’ Because I’m like, it’s such a big cost. Every wreck is.”

Alas, now we know why Denny Hamlin cringes every time there’s a wreck. The Next Gen car is certainly more durable at times than cars in the past, but it’s not immune to some of the gigantic wrecks we see week-in and week-out.

The wrecks are awesome, but it’s obvious why the owners see dollar signs every time there’s a pile up. Nevertheless, we’ll never tire of seeing them, as long as everyone is alright, of course.

Denny Hamlin: Chase Elliott ‘could win championship’ in Owner’s Cup playoffs

Meanwhile, Denny Hamlin is giving some props to the performance of one of his adversaries in Chase Elliott for his performance over the last couple of weeks.

While Elliott missed out on the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs for a myriad of reasons, his car still made it to the Owner’s Cup Playoffs, where still has a chance of winning it all. While fans may not particularly care much about the latter, it’s certainly weighing heavy on the mind of people like Hamlin and Elliott’s car owner, Rick Hendrick.

As Elliott looks to continue his run in the Owner’s Cup, Hamlin took his his Actions Detrimental podcast to evaluate some of the juiciest storylines that may be going over the head of fans at the moment.

“We’ve got some storylines here. Cars that are in, cars that are out. Chase don’t have a yellow-spoiler, but he’s in. His car’s in. A lot of money being exchanged hands here, that people don’t know about, that may not mean a lot to you, but it means a lot to others. So we’ll see how that plays out,” Hamlin explained. “The No. 9 car could run deep. I mean, No. 9 car could win the championship and nobody would even know it. 

“… That’s why they have owner’s points, and that’s why they pay us, is because you know, is it fair to Hendrick Motorsports, if Chase breaks his leg, is it fair to, ‘Hey, you’ve just costs that team millions and millions of dollars, because of an accident?’ No, as long as Rick Hendrick continues to invest and spend the money to put that car on the race-track every week, he deserves to get paid to do it, and that’s why they pay us off of owners instead of drivers.”