“It’s too easy to drive” - Denny Hamlin’s crew chief voices criticism of NASCAR’s Next Gen car

Chris Gabehart, Denny Hamlin’s crew chief, has criticized NASCAR’s Next Gen cars following the Bristol night race on Saturday, September 21. Gabehart believes the seventh-generation Cup Series race car is “too easy” to drive, which affects the race product.

Gabehart and Hamlin have been working together since 2019. They won their first race as a team at Daytona 500 that year. Since joining forces, the duo has won 23 out of the 54 victories in the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing driver’s career.

During a post-race interview with Matt Weaver, Gabehart talked about the current race quality in the sport. He said,

“It’s too easy to drive, they [the cars] are too close, and you’re not gonna ask for much better racing. I’m sorry, you’re not.

“The bottom was good, the middle was good, the top was good, but they’re all separated by .0-nothing. And physics is a buffer...and, y''know, these are the world’s best stock teams and drivers. If you don’t give them enough ways to separate themselves, that’s what you're gonna see” [at start of video].

Gabehart added,

“The days of the old Bristol are over, with this car” [0:39]

The Bristol race weekend saw Kyle Larson dominate the field as he led 462 out of the 500 laps. His No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro crossed the line in first ahead of Chase Elliott, Bubba Wallace, and Denny Hamlin, in order.

Regardless of his comments here, Gabehart remained optimistic about the upcoming race at Kansas, saying the No. 11 team will take the fight to Larson.

“Kansas is one of our very best tracks... Kansas, Bristol, Richmond, you pick it. It’s one of Larson’s very best tracks. I fully expect it to be a war and I’m looking forward to it” [2:53].

With a P4 finish, Denny Hamlin walked out of Bristol with 46 points - enough to secure a spot in the Round of 12. However, he wasn’t able to lead even a single lap as Larson and the Hendrick Motorsports team were in control of the race throughout. His HMS teammate Alex Bowman, who finished in P9, started on pole and led for 34 laps.

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Denny Hamlin remaps strategy, will go “all offense” for Kansas

In a post-race interview, Denny Hamlin discussed his strategy heading into the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway. The 54-time NASCAR Cup Series winner is looking forward to the race weekend as the No. 11 team considers it a track they’re good at. He said,

“It's all offense from this point forward, so yeah. We're going to Kansas, the track we've been really, really good at. Yeah, I'm looking forward to the rest of the run” [0:46].

The Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol was the first race in the playoffs where Denny Hamlin scored a substantial number of points. The Toyota driver only finished in P24 in the playoffs opener in Atlanta after staying at the back of the pack looking to avoid any wrecks. He finished a similarly lowly P23 at Watkins Glen.

The next playoff race will be held at Kansas Speedway, scheduled on September 29.