Kenny Wallace responds to Denny Hamlin's grievances after Daytona 500

Denny Hamlin aired out a lengthy list of grievances on Monday’s “Actions Detrimental” podcast in the aftermath of Sunday’s Daytona 500.

Hamlin sounded off on the current state of superspeedway racing and Kenny Wallace knew immediately he was “pissed” after listening. How did Wallace know? Because Hamlin slept on it. He didn’t go nuclear on NASCAR in his postrace interview with FOX Sports, he allowed himself some time to fully gather his thoughts. And Hamlin still came out guns a-blazing to open up the podcast.

“Coffee with Kenny”@JeffGordonWeb is ready to make a Hollywood movie.@dennyhamlin has had enough of @NASCAR racin 🏁 pic.twitter.com/tQSpf2GYZg

— Kenny Wallace (@Kenny_Wallace) February 18, 2025

“Now, I can tell you how I know Denny’s had enough, because he slept on it,” Wallace said on X. “He was awake at 4:20 a.m. Monday morning. He texted the boys at Dirty Mo [Media] and he went to bed and he was still pissed. You know when you’re mad and they say, ‘Calm down, just sleep on it?’ Denny slept on it, and he’s still pissed.”

Hamlin specifically took issue with how much luck plays a role in deciding the winners on superspeedways, just as it did on Sunday. Hamlin — leading the race on the final lap of overtime — found himself involved in a multi-car wreck after Cole Custer went for his winning move on the back straightaway. William Byron, running seventh at the time, escaped through the carnage to take the checkered flag.

Denny Hamlin rips current state of superspeedway racing after Daytona 500

Hamlin called today’s superspeedway racing a “f***ing crapshoot.”

“Are the cars making us do this, are the drivers doing this? Like, it’s a combination of both, I believe,” Hamlin said. “But I’m losing my love for the sport of it. Because I feel like it’s going by the wayside for the sake of entertainment. And I don’t think anybody built this car for superspeedway entertainment, but … it starts by over time we used to run 200 mph at superspeedways and the cars were hard to really drive and handle. Daytona 500 was a battle of the best driver and the best team that brought the best car that had a great setup under. And some of the greats of our sport could navigate the traffic and use it to their advantage.

“That is gone now, just like the art of passing on short tracks. Now, we just knock each other out of the way and say, ‘That’s just short track racing.’ We gotta get this thing back. … But what upsets me is I spend so much money at 23X to ensure my team and my drivers have the best cars available to go out there and compete for a win. But it’s just such a f***ing crapshoot now. And I hate what is supposed to be our most prestigious race — a showcase of heroes — is luck. And I don’t care how else you wanna say it, it is luck.”

After hearing everything Hamlin had to say, Wallace found him to have a point.

“Denny’s got a point,” Wallace said. “When you’re running eighth in the Daytona 500 on the last corner and seven cars in front of you wreck and you win, you’re lucky. But you did pretty good because you survived, and you made it to the end.”