Denny Hamlin Reveals the Harsh Reality That Awaits NASCAR At the End of 2024 – “We Just Wouldn’t Show up”

As the 2024 season continues to unfold with great success for NASCAR in terms of viewership numbers, not every stakeholder in the sport is reflecting Steve O’Donnell’s optimism. Speaking of which, Denny Hamlin has long been the most vocal critic of the current state of the charter negotiations.

Only recently, the 23XI racing co-owner hinted at four major pillars of the agreement not being met. With that, Hamlin contradicted O’Donnell’s assertion that the agreement is ‘close’ to a conclusion. This naturally left Dale Earnhardt Jr with just one question for Hamlin on the Dale Jr Download “Isn’t there like a day where it’s like, hey okay, the current agreement ends”?

Tensions boil over as Denny Hamlin reveals a grim reality to fans

After Tyler Reddick continued to strengthen 23XI Racing’s position in NASCAR with his win at the GEICO 500, it isn’t surprising that Denny Hamlin wants the charter renewal to consist of better terms and conditions. As things stand, teams that have shelled out enormous chunks of money for their charters could lose it all as the current agreement ends.

Reflecting on what happens if the current agreement ends without a new one in place, Hamlin shared an unfortunate outcome with fans and Earnhardt Jr. Hamlin shared on the Dale Jr Download“At the end of this year, and there would be no charters. It would be ignorant of fans to say ‘That’s great, no charters!’ Well then we just wouldn’t show up and we don’t need to.”

Owing to the sheer amount that a team stands to lose per weekend, Denny Hamlin believes the lack of a charter could demotivate many teams from showing up at all the races. He added, “The Clash, we won’t show up at that, the All-Star race, we wouldn’t show up at that. Maybe some races pay less, we just wouldn’t show up to those, it’s just not financially good.”

Denny Hamlin made his stance known rather bluntly. With how 23XI is performing as of late, the lack of any charter next year could mean the team carries an even higher risk than before. Although no other stakeholder or team owner was as vocal as Hamlin, there’s not a lot of patience left in his tank. He concluded, “I’m sure there will be owners not like that I’m saying this publicly, but I’ve reached the point of frustration and it’s boiling over.”

Hamlin calls out NASCAR for not giving Joe Gibbs and Rick Hendrick their dues

Steve’ O Donnell recently claimed that he could only commit to a team for as long as a TV Rights deal was in place. But with the TV Rights deal stretching for a mere seven years, Denny Hamlin believes those team owners who have stuck around for decades are not getting their dues. After all, could the legacy of Rick Hendrick and Joe Gibbs just vanish if their charters were taken away? As Earnhardt Jr and Hamlin discussed the recent article by The Athletic and Jeff Gluck, Hamlin revealed how it highlighted the four pillars he was speaking of earlier.

Going over the pillars, The 23XI co-owner stated; “One is the permanency of charters. There’s a wide range of reasons why that is important. Especially for the teams that have purchased charters, to have them have the ability to be taken away at any moment is not ideal. By any means, people like Rick Hendrick and Joe Gibbs have invested in the sports for decades, and deserve to give their kids that permanent charter and it be something that can be passed down.”

Currently, Hamlin felt that the stakeholders were putting up with more than they should. Even after the decades of glory JGR and HMS have brought to the sport, Hamlin revealed how teams are still the biggest losers. He stated, “There are three stakeholders in the sport; the tracks, the teams, and NASCAR. And to be quite honest, two of those stakeholders make nine-figure profits a year and one stakeholder loses seven-figure profits per year”

Hamlin then highlighted how there was a ‘clear disconnect’ between the teams, NASCAR and SMI. He felt fans needed to be better informed about “how offset this deal is and how unfair it is to the teams.” That being said, do you think Steve O’Donnell has a response in store for Hamlin’s call-out?