Denny Hamlin gives his hot take on Jeffrey Earnhardt’s former crew chief’s ‘finish under green’ suggestion: “If it was the nineties that would work”

Fans weren’t happy with NASCAR’s inconsistencies on last-lap cautions in the first two race weekends of the season. On that note, last week, Larry McReynolds, who once served as the crew chief for Xfinity Series part-timer Jeffrey Earnhardt, came up with a solution to deal with it all.

McReynolds, also known as Larry Mac, noted that the only flag that could finish the race was the checkered, and so, he suggested that NASCAR should end its races following the usual green-white-checkered sequence. But that could result in endless overtime and drivers running out of fuel.

Denny Hamlin, driver of the No. 11 Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing, recently shared his thoughts on the solutions that Larry Mac proposed. He said (1:42),

“I think if it was the 90s it would work that way but it's not and the cars are bunched up tighter together than what they used to be. Nobody liked the look that we had from Nashville when we had nine overtimes.”

“That's just a bad look all around; people running out of fuel, crashes...and I just think if you say that you had to finish it under green in checkered, we would run out of gas...and keep crashing each other,” Denny Hamlin added.

Well, NASCAR is an entertainment sport, and endless overtime without caution would perhaps be great from the entertainment side of it. But it could cost the drivers their safety and nobody wants that.

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Denny Hamlin opens up on retirement from NASCAR

Throughout his career spanning 20 years, Denny Hamlin has amassed 54 wins, including triumphs in the Coca-Cola 600, Daytona 50,0, and Southern 500. His most recent win came last year in March.

However, the veteran driver will turn 45 this year. Most NASCAR drivers retire in their late 40s, which means Hamlin might not be around for long. Reflecting on the same during an interview with FOX Sports, the Tampa, Florida native said,

“I definitely can (see the finish line). And I’m just not gonna allow myself to be another driver out there.”

Hamlin knows that a day will come when he won’t be as good. His instincts will be dulled, and he won’t be as competitive. But rest assured, that day is not here yet.

“There’ll be a day when I wake up and I don’t have the skill set that I had before. I don’t know when that day is. I don’t feel like it’s right now. I feel as sharp as I ever have behind the wheel,” Denny Hamlin added.

Hamlin’s next race is on Sunday, March 2, at Circuit of The Americas (COTA) in Austin, Texas. Fans can watch the event live on FOX or listen to its radio coverage on PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio from 3:30 pm ET onwards.