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Denny Hamlin started the official 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season relatively quietly with a 19th-place finish in the Daytona 500, a race he’s won three times before.
Less than 24 hours after taking the checkered flag, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver was making some noise when he revealed on his February 20 podcast that, in addition to the racing, there was an important meeting held in Florida between team owners, including Rick Hendrick, Roger Penske and His Airness, Michael Jordan, where they discussed charter negotiations. But one party was notably absent.
“I do know that the team owners met on Saturday. I was there,” Hamlin said. “The invitation was extended to (NASCAR CEO) Jim France that was in town. But he declined that invitation.
“I think it’s disappointing. I can’t think of a league or an owner of a league or a commissioner that would decline meeting with his team owners. That’s very disappointing. And all I think the teams are wondering is, you said no over and over and over to us. We’re just looking for an explanation of why and we haven’t got that why yet, other than it just is.”
Denny Hamlin Lauded by NASCAR President Days Before
Hamlin was understandably cautious in his remarks, but what he said didn’t exactly portray the sport’s top official in a positive light. What’s intriguing is the driver’s comments come just a couple of days after NASCAR President Steve Phelps praised the 23XI Racing co-owner for his personality on Fox’s Daytona 500 pre-race show coverage.
“Right now, Denny Hamlin’s wearing the black hat for us and he’s doing a tremendous job, and he’s leaning into it,” Phelps said. “That’s what we want. I’d like to have 36 Denny Hamlins.”
“Really? Wow. Some fans wouldn’t like that,” Fox’s Chris Myers pointed out.
“But it’s personalities, right?” Phelps replied. “So someone to root for and someone to dislike. I wouldn’t say hate. That’s good for us.”
Hamlin & Jeff Gordon on Same Page
Hamlin embracing his “black hat” role and showing his personality is something Jeff Gordon candidly questioned last year, suggesting he wouldn’t want any of his Hendrick Motorsports drivers to behave like that because it’s a distraction.
While the pair might not agree on the personality conversation, they are undoubtedly aligned when it comes to the teams and their stance on charter negotiations. The NASCAR Hall of Famer and HMS vice chairman made that perfectly clear during his February 13 appearance on the “Dale Jr. Download” when the podcast host questioned what kind of leverage the teams had with the governing body.
“I believe and the other teams believe this, that the investment that the teams are making right now in the sport, not just to go fast but to try to build our businesses into a business that’s sustainable, then something’s got to change,” Gordon said. “And I think if something doesn’t change I don’t think we’re going to see the sport get back to where it once was.
“What is the leverage? The leverage is that right now we don’t have a charter agreement that guarantees that the teams have to show up at the race track.”
Could that ever happen? Could it get to the point where the teams decide to take a stand and they all fail to show up for a race weekend? It’s not likely. But just the fact that Gordon said those words means that it’s certainly an option that team owners have discussed and know is available should they ever choose to use it.
The owners likely discussed that topic during their recent meeting in Daytona. We know who didn’t hear what was said.
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