Denny Hamlin sounds off on NASCAR throwback schemes

NASCAR drivers will flaunt throwback schemes on their cars for this Sunday’s (April 6) Cup Series race at Darlington Raceway. However, Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin isn’t too excited about it.

Sponsors in the NASCAR Cup Series always look for returns on their investments. But these throwback liveries often override their official colour schemes, which isn’t always great for publicity.

Reflecting on the matter during a recent interview, Hamlin said (via Speedway Digest),

“I think it sounds good in theory, but you know truthfully, these guys are trying to find a reason to get a return on their investment. So, when you kind of change their logo or maybe change their colors and stuff, it doesn’t really line up with what they want. It’s just a sponsor-driven sport.”

The Xfinity Series can resort to throwback paint jobs, given there aren’t as many sponsors as the Cup Series. But throwback schemes, according to Hamlin, make things difficult for the partners on the Cup side of things.

“I mean, I’m watching the Xfinity Series cars and I’m like, ‘they’re awesome!’ Because they don’t have this many sponsors, they can kind of do whatever they want to do. It’s cool to see from their standpoint, but yeah on the Cup side it’s going to be really tough going forward,” Hamlin added.

Denny Hamlin will drive the Office Depot scheme that NASCAR Hall of Famer Carl Edwards drove to the victory lane on ten occasions with his iconic No. 99 machine. Scheduled to begin from 3 pm ET onwards, the race will be televised on Fox Sports 1 with radio updates on MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

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Denny Hamlin opens up on Joe Gibbs Racing's 2025 overhaul

After spending six seasons as crew chief and driver, Chris Gabehart parted ways with Denny Hamlin and the No. 11 team ahead of the 2025 season. They were regarded as one of the most iconic crew chief-driver duos in the NASCAR Cup Series, with 22 victories to their credit, including a pair of Daytona 500s.

However, Hamlin turns 45 this year. He is not a newcomer in the series who can afford to just change his crew chief. So when he got the news about Gabehart moving to a new role within the JGR leadership, he didn’t like it very much.

“I was worried. I’m too late in my career to start over. I wasn’t excited about it.”

Gabehart was replaced by Chris Gayle atop the pit box. Gayle had been the crew chief for Erik Jones and Ty Gibbs in the past. To this day, he owns 37 victories in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.

Notably, Gayle won his first Cup Series race as a crew chief at Martinsville Speedway last Sunday. It also marked Denny Hamlin’s first win in his last 31 attempts.