Denny Hamlin makes eye-opening remark about learnings from Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Tony Stewart ahead of the Talladega race

Through years of racing, Denny Hamlin has picked up several tips and tricks to race a plate track like Talladega Superspeedway from legendary drivers like Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Tony Stewart. However, none of that matters now, said the Joe Gibbs Racing driver in a recent episode of his Actions Detrimental podcast.

Hamlin has been racing at the Talladega Superspeedway every year since 2006. However, his last five finishes at the tri-oval haven't all been particularly impressive, being 37th, 3rd, 17th, 5th and 18th.

Reflecting on the varying results, Hamlin said:

"All those things that I learned from Dale (Earnhardt ) Jr. and Tony Stewart back in the day... gone! All those techniques I learned; how to pass, how to create runs, and all that stuff... got to stay in line."

With the usher of the NextGen prototype, each car on the field is just about similar today in terms of specs and components. Therefore, passing one's opponents becomes difficult.

"It's just all about numbers," Denny Hamlin explained. "You got to stay in whatever line's got the most cars and that line will go forward." (0:44)

Denny Hamlin will start his No. 11 engine in the YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway on October 6th at 2 PM ET. It is going to be his 38th start for Joe Gibbs Racing at Talladega; his sixth with the NextGen car. Fans can watch him in action only on NBC or listen to live radio updates on MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

"Looks like a**"- Denny Hamlin calls out NASCAR ahead of Talladega outing

Given its dare-devilish speeds, unpredictability and history of gruesome accidents, Talladega Superspeedway is one of the most challenging tracks on NASCAR's schedule. Therefore, NASCAR has made a few changes to the NextGen car, days before the YellaWood 500, the second-last race of the Round of 12.

The changes were meant to prevent the cars from catching bad air and getting turtle-turned in the middle of the race. However, Denny Hamlin was not too happy about those changes. His sole criticism was aimed at the extended-height roof rail.

"We got briefed by NASCAR on changes that they're proposing for Talladega," Denny Hamlin said (as quoted by Newsweek). "Which is running that roof rail over our front windshield. And obviously the drivers were not in favor of that."

"For one, it looks like a**. And second, it hurts visibility... The problem is that we take tear offs off of our front windshield. And superspeedways are one of the worst tracks for debris on the front windshield. So, we need to get those tear offs off," he added.

As of now, Denny Hamlin stands 5th in the Cup Series standings, 11 points above the elimination line, whereas, Hendrick Motorsports driver, William Byron leads the pack. RFK Racing's Brad Keselowski is the most successful driver at Talladega with six victories to his name.