Dale Jr. Disagrees With ‘Hardheaded’ Denny Hamlin & Defends Kyle Petty Against Critics

Getty Denny Hamlin during qualifying.

Denny Hamlin works for Dale Earnhardt Jr. with his “Actions Detrimental” podcast part of Junior’s Dirty Mo Media lineup that also includes the flagship “Dale Jr. Download.” So it’s common for the two weekly podcasts to discuss the same topics and sometimes respond to something said on the other podcast. It then becomes a public conversation as the NASCAR Hall of Famer and future Hall of Famer banter back and forth.

During the September 9 episode, Hamlin reviewed his race at Atlanta, where he was heavily criticized by everyone, including his own fans, for riding in the back of the pack for most of the race with the hopes of taking advantage of attrition, which unfortunately for the Joe Gibbs Racing driver, never happened. Despite his best intentions, he was involved in a late crash and finished 24th.

Earnhardt talked about Hamlin’s strategy during the September 10 “Download,” bringing up his own history with the tactic and then defending Kyle Petty for his critical remarks of the JGR driver and his post-race comments suggesting his lone goal for the race was to earn 20 points.

“Kyle Petty ripped him up,” Earnhardt said. “Kyle said, ‘Man, I’ve never in my life, in all of my years heard a guy go, yeah, I’m just trying to get 20 points today.’ And Kyle’s right.

“I know there’s a history there. They’ve had that problem at Dover that people think there‘s still a little bit of a rift between these guys. And Kyle’s been critical of Denny in the past, but Kyle’s right.

“Listen, I’ve rode in the back at Daytona, Talladega. I’ve tried that strategy. I’ve failed. I don’t know. It might have worked once. So I feel like I’ve got enough experience and have made enough mistakes to be able to comment on this much like, probably Kyle Petty as well, right?

“People give Kyle a hard time when he gets critical and has a hot take but Kyle Petty’s been around the sport for-freaking-ever and he’s seen a lot. You don’t have to be the one actually climbing the mountain. If you watch enough people go up, you can figure out kind of how it gets done.

“And so maybe Kyle doesn’t have a championship or all these wins but he’s been around and watched enough of this sport and observed enough racers and people doing things to understand how to give a reasonable take. So I feel like he’s kind of spot on here.”

Denny Hamlin Discusses Atlanta Strategy   

Hamlin addressed his strategy during his latest show and acknowledged that he might have made the wrong decision as evidenced by the final result, but also mentioned how his finish could have changed with a single caution at the right time, which never materialized. And he also addressed Petty’s comments on trying to get just 20 points.

“Teams are smarter now than what they used to be and certainly, not saying that this was the right strategy, but it was the one that I wanted to employ on the day,” Hamlin said. “20 points. I don’t know the last time I scored 20 points on a superspeedway race. It’s been so long.

“I’m trying to make it to the next round. I’m trying to get to some of these tracks where team, driver, all those things, make a bigger difference and it’s not a Russian roulette of whether you get caught up in a wreck or not. So data and analytics, while I understand it wasn’t around back in his day, it is now and if you’re not using it, then you’re a dinosaur.

“So I’m just trying to use the information at my disposal to make the best decision. It doesn’t mean that I’m always going to make the right decision and you could argue that certainly it was not the right decision. Who’s to say?”

Junior Talks About Hamlin and Charters

While Hamlin willingly detailed his Atlanta race, he briefly touched on the other big topic from the weekend — charter negotiations and how his 23XI Racing organization was just one of two teams opting not to sign the deal. Earnhardt, however, had no such reservations and offered his perspective, including admitting why he fully expected to hear from the driver/team co-owner behind the scenes about his comments on the subject.

“I could not believe this came down the way it did, but apparently everybody signs the charter agreement except for 23XI, which is not a big shocker. Front Row also didn’t sign, which is a shocker.

“And so Denny’s listening to this and he’s going to text me all the reasons why I’m wrong. When I talk charters, we always have a Denny Hamlin conversation later in the week. But, I was really surprised that the teams split. Now, I felt like when they started meeting with NASCAR individually that NASCAR had gained the upper hand, right?

“If the teams are all going to band together and really have leverage they had to stay together, right? And so when NASCAR starts meeting with them individually, that was going to erode at the trust and confidence and teamwork that the RTA had. And a lot of their leverage as a group went away. Now, Denny and 2311, they believe they have all this leverage and their leverage has not changed. And that’s fine.”

Several minutes later in the conversation, Earnhardt offered up a prediction on when there might be a resolution and why it likely won’t come anytime soon.

“Denny’s hardheaded,” he said. “I don’t see Denny sometime in a couple weeks going, ‘Alright, we’re signing it. We’re done fighting.’ I just don’t see it. He’s hardheaded.”

With those comments, Hamlin and Earnhardt will have plenty to talk about in their next conversation. What the fans hear about it on next week’s respective podcasts is anybody’s guess.