Ahead of the playoff race at Talladega last Sunday, Denny Hamlin chose to take a reserved, pragmatic approach with his words. Earlier last week, his team 23XI Racing had announced that they would take NASCAR to court over the new charter agreement.
Following this announcement, Hamlin's media interactions at Talladega were filled with questions about the subject. But the #11 driver refused to elaborate beyond surface-level information, an approach he discussed this week on his podcast, "Actions Detrimental." Hamlin said,
"This weekend, I obviously didn't say much in the media center, I have to be respectful that while at the racetrack there, I'm the driver of the #11 first and obviously you want to keep your comments pretty short and limited to be respectful to the sponsors I got on my hat and my shirt during that time.
Trending
"That's the tough balance, but when people ask me about 'what's the balance?' One of the toughest is having to walk the tight rope of, 'well, I'm here as a driver but you're asking me owner questions. But I want to be respectful and answer your questions,'" [5:40]
Hamlin added that a lot has been said by his team and its attorney, Jeffrey Kessler.
Last week, in an interview following the announcement, Kessler spoke about the lawsuit against NASCAR.
"What we are arguing here is that NASCAR is a monopoly. No surprise to NASCAR fans; there is no alternative to NASCAR not just in this country but frankly, around the world. And it got its monopoly illegally."
Denny Hamlin opens up on "broken" NASCAR system
Denny Hamlin called his team bringing a lawsuit against NASCAR over the charter ownership an "important moment" in the sport. He added that he has invested a lot of money back into the sport to put on "NASCAR's show."
Hamlin said that from the beginning, he has only asked for one thing in return.
"I'm not looking to bank a bunch of money or anything like that. Show me a way that that investment can be recouped and I've not seen that yet so that is an issue," [6:55]
The JGR veteran also said that NASCAR refused to take investment from outside and instead encouraged former drivers to become team owners. However, Hamlin said, that approach failed for one reason or another.
"We came and we brought out facts that in 2016 there were 19 charter members. 11 of those are gone. I know it's easy to look at the short term and say, 'Oh, we're fine. Everything's fine.' It's not fine" [7:28].
Looking at the 2025 agreement that 13 of 15 teams have signed, Hamlin said the signing teams have no upside. The only upside, he claimed, lies with NASCAR and that they can decide the fate and future of the teams at their will.
Denny Hamlin concluded that NASCAR's system is "a broken system."
He added that as time goes on and more revelations come out in this lawsuit, people will begin to see the specific ways in which the system and the charter agreement is unfair.
