“Worse than what we had before” - Denny Hamlin unfurls his dissatisfaction with the short track package

Ahead of the Phoenix qualifying run, NASCAR driver and team owner Denny Hamlin has come clean about the deficiencies in the new short-track package.

NASCAR uses three stock car packages to ensure the maximum output from the cars across different classes of tracks — the speedways, superspeedways, and short tracks and road courses.

Short-track races like the Shriners Children's 500 at the Phoenix Raceway, which is scheduled to flag off on Sunday, March 10, at 3.30 PM ET, require a package that reduces the downforce exerted on the car (running at slow speeds compared to larger tracks).

A low center of gravity means a low grip and more room for mistakes, thereby ensuring an adrenaline-filled pursuit on the asphalt. The Phoenix package will comprise a 670 HP engine under the hood and a relatively small rear diffuser with fewer planks attached.

Furthermore, an increase of one inch on the rear spoiler from the previous year's two inches can also be seen. Despite having a promising expected outcome on paper, the short-track package has seemingly failed to get validation from Denny Hamlin.

During a post-practice interview, the 3x Daytona 500 winner was evidently dissatisfied with his outing on the one-mile oval as he outlined the bitter truth about the developments.

Motorsports journalist Bob Pockrass shared Hamlin's thoughts on X (formerly Twitter) account:

"I couldn't, no. I think some of the changes, that it's supposed to be better. I think it's just really not supposed to be worse than what we had before, just a far less expensive piece."

The JGR driver then reflected upon Goodyear's new tire compound, claiming it to be a "step in the right direction":

"That's a good thing for Goodyear to continue to evolve on and try to get better at it is you're finding a tire that continues to drop off. I think that this one's showing some signs of that so I think it's definitely a step in the right direction on the tire."

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Denny Hamlin's JGR teammate believes that the short track package "still sucked"

The stock car package for the Phoenix Cup Series race aims to reduce the speeds and downforce to make up for a more enthralling Cup Series outing. However, Denny Hamlin couldn't notice a significant change compared to the existing version.

Per motorsports journalist Matt Weaver, the horsepower has been robbed, power brakes will drastically decelerate the car, and wider tires will produce more than the required grip. This could account for a tough time when a trailing car will look forward to swooping past the leading one.

Just like Denny Hamlin couldn't notice a significant change after the updates, his teammate Martin Truex Jr held the same opinion. He opened up about how the car felt subpar in performance despite engineers' unwavering efforts.

Truex Jr said (via Sportsnaut):

“It felt similar. I couldn’t honestly tell. The teams, engineers make the cars as close to balanced as they can, so I felt exactly like I did here last fall. Traffic, it still sucked. Will it be worse in the race? It will be different when everyone’s out there. Maybe it will be a little better, who knows.”

Denny Hamlin's teammate put forth his aspirations with the new package, adding:

“Just the ability to turn better than somebody when you are behind them and get under them like we used to race. What I noticed in practice, I got within a car length or so, and just plowed out from behind the guy when I caught him."