Denny Hamlin Lauds NASCAR’s Darlington Product as Just the One the Drivers’ Wanted
Mar 22, 2026; Darlington, South Carolina, USA; Joe Gibbs Racing Denny Hamlin (11) comes out for the Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway. | Credits- Scott Kinser-Imagn Images Denny Hamlin was among the drivers who expected a lot from the short-track package used at the Darlington Raceway on Sunday, as it had done wonders in Phoenix earlier this season. He believed it could lead to unpredictability of sorts, but the impact actually ended up being very minimal.
Drivers were barely able to notice it. In light of this, Hamlin was asked on the Actions Detrimental podcast if the Goodyear 400 was overhyped throughout last week. He agreed that it was to a certain extent and added, “The aero and the horsepower change were equal to me.
“It was a very small change as it was. The downforce is a bigger change than the horsepower was, but it wasn’t that different,” the Joe Gibbs Racing driver. The disappointment was apparent.
But Hamlin did point out that there are many positives to take away from how the package affected the racing. “What was encouraging about it is very similar to last week at Las Vegas,” he continued. “Good cars drove from the back to the front.
And that’s what we’ve been asking for, right? I mean, we shouldn’t have a problem with what we saw. ” Fans, too, Hamlin believes, will have liked what they saw, and that makes the overall vibe around the weekend positive.