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Denny Hamlin Directly Blames NASCAR In ‘Stagnant’ Charter Negotiations
Denny Hamlin isn’t just a NASCAR Cup Series star driver, he’s also a team owner.
And during Wednesday’s NASCAR Cup Series Media Day at the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte, North Carolina, Hamlin was asked for an update on the stalled Charter discussions with NASCAR.
When asked, where is the charter conversation right now, Hamlin issued a one-word reply.
“Stagnant,” he said.
When asked what has to be done, Hamlin replied,
“One side will have to wake up and be reasonable,” he said. “That’s all.”
So, the natural next question was, which side?
“Not ours,” Hamlin said.
Hamlin is the driver of the No. 11 Toyota at Joe Gibbs Racing. He is also the team owner of 23XI along with basketball legend and one of the greatest athletes of all-time Michael Jordan.
Last week at Darlington, a 23XI investor named Curtis Polk wore a handwritten message on a piece of paper attached to his shirt that said, “Please don’t ask me about my Charter. I don’t want to disparage NASCAR and lose it.”
When asked why Polk wore the sign, Hamlin had another one-word answer.
“Frustration,” he said.
Earlier this week on his “Actions Detrimental” podcast on Monday, September 2, Hamlin revealed NASCAR had inserted a clause into recent drafts of the charter against making “anti-disparaging remarks.
“I would choose not to speak about [Polk’s shirt], but it kind of speaks for itself, and I can’t believe he actually wore that,” Hamlin said on the podcast. “They do not want you speaking negatively, that’s a new add to the charter agreement. We’ll see how that goes.
“NASCAR has got their stance and the teams have there’s. We’ll just see where this goes the next few weeks.”
Two days later, at a Hall of Fame that honors the greatest of the great in NASCAR history, a place where Hamlin will likely be inducted one day, the 54-time NASCAR Cup Series race winner was speaking more like a team owner of 23XI, than the driver of the No. 11 Toyota.
Tyler Reddick and Bubba Wallace drive for 23XI. Reddick won the NASCAR “Regular Season” Championship in Sunday’s Cookout Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway.
Reddick was given a trophy, and the team owners posed for photos. But the way the trophy was presented irked Hamlin.
“Certainly, pretty disappointed to not see anyone from NASCAR present Tyler (Reddick) his trophy,” Hamlin said. “That was a little disappointing.”
When asked if he thought it was “personal” Hamlin said, “I don’t know. That was the first I’ve seen.”
On the NASCAR side, officials have been expressing confidence a new Charter agreement will be completed during the 10-race, 2-1/2-month NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.
“Of course, they want it to, but the truth is they keep going in the wrong direction,” Hamlin said.
So, who is telling the truth?
“I believe I am from our standpoint, but it depends on who you ask,” Hamlin continued. “But certainly, I feel like yeah, there’s probably a handful of teams that are just happy to take any deal that they can get and there’s others with some business sense that says this is unreasonable.
“But everyone is going to do what their own – what they want to do that’s best for their team and each one of the teams will execute an agreement that they feel is fair for themselves.”
Hamlin said other teams have not been pushing him to speak on their behalf, “but they don’t hate it either,” Hamlin said. “I don’t love being the megaphone. I wish some of these other owners who are griping to me through text and calls would just do it publicly themselves, but I think that they fear pushback.”
The fear of pushback is real, especially in NASCAR. It’s a complicated sport with layers of scrutiny whether it be technical inspection or other areas that determine gamesmanship and sportsmanship.
