“Make that safe”: Denny Hamlin has a piece of advice for NASCAR regarding race restarts after New Hampshire race

Denny Hamlin shared some suggestions on NASCAR's handling of non-competitive pit stops during a rain-halted race on his podcast. Frustrated, Hamlin emphasized that NASCAR needs to prioritize improvements in pit lane conditions, especially during adverse weather.

Initially, it seemed NASCAR might end the race early with 82 laps remaining, but instead, they chose to dry the track and resume racing. Along with the restart, NASCAR introduced non-competitive pit stops due to the wet and potentially dangerous pit lane conditions, a decision Denny Hamlin believes needs reevaluation.

Denny Hamlin voiced his concerns about pit stop conditions on the "Actions Detrimental" podcast, talking about an issue during rain delays. According to Hamlin, the inability to properly dry Pit Road—complicated by cars parked there during the red flag period—led to NASCAR opting for non-competitive pit stops when racing resumed.

He argued that if Pit Road isn't safe, then the race shouldn't restart until it is. Denny Hamlin suggested that NASCAR should prioritize making Pit Road safe, emphasizing the need for thorough drying procedures.

"If Pit Road is not safe that's why we had non-competitive pitstop then you shouldn't restart the race until pit road is safe. Do whatever drying you need to do to pit lane. and make that safe. And I think that... Maybe that should be the priority when they go back to drying the facility because they made a lap of the air titans and jet dryers or whatever just trying to get the big water off the track," he noted on his podcast via X.

"Maybe work on pit lane first. Now the difficulty with that is there were cars sitting on pit lane while they were trying to drive it so you'd have to move the cars. But... I agree with you that perhaps pit lane probably should have been more of an emphasis."

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Denny Hamlin talks about the time he felt helpless in New Hampshire

While his #11 car initially kept pace in the top three, the race's interruption by heavy rain ultimately saw him crossing the finish line at P24. Despite avoiding crashes in the later stages, Denny Hamlin couldn't claw back to his previous position. He described the experience, saying:

"I was forced to have to run a line that would make my car make a corner but it was not the fastest line so everyone was just going around me so it was a…that part was a helpless feeling for sure." [at 14:17]

On the other hand, his teammate Christopher Bell found the fastest lane around the track and sailed to a victory. Denny Hamlin noted that drivers seasoned on slippery surfaces like dirt tended to navigate to the front more comfortably, while others struggled to maintain traction. That was evident as drivers like Bell and Chase Briscoe, who are seasoned on such surfaces, adeptly maximized their tire performance.