Denny Hamlin accused of being 'out of touch' for controversial NASCAR complaint

Oscar Maung-Haley Thu, June 4, 2026 at 8:07 AM UTC

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AUTO: MAY 31 NASCAR Cup Series Cracker Barrel 400

Denny Hamlin has risked the wrath of NASCAR fans on social media (Image: Getty)

NASCAR star Denny Hamlin believes Cup Series races at Nashville Superspeedway should be shortened following his Cracker Barrel 400 victory last weekend.

In front of a sellout crowd during last Sunday's Cup Series race, Hamlin held off Christopher Bell and Chase Briscoe to win the Cracker Barrel 400 in thrilling fashion, with the Joe Gibbs Racing driver quick to thank the fans and spectators in attendance following his victory.

However, the 45-year-old has now risked the ire of NASCAR fans on social media after he admitted he believes Cup Series races at Nashville should be shortened because of the length of time it took to complete. The race, which was hit by a weather delay beforehand, took just under four hours to be completed.

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Speaking on his 'Actions Detrimental' podcast, Hamlin explained he thinks that 300 laps of the 1.33-mile track at Nashville is simply too long, and that moving forward, NASCAR should shorten the number of laps run.

"This race has run really, really long for a few years now, and I think ... 300 laps at this racetrack, running the same lap times that you run at mile-and-a-halfs when you only run 267 laps, at a faster pace, the math doesn't math to me. That's why this race goes to as late as it does ... just gotta shorten it up."

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However, Hamlin's comments have prompted the ire of racing fans on social media. "Gtfo Denny," replied one fan on X after seeing Hamlin's comments, adding, "Want shorter races? Eliminate stages. Still not short enough? Buschwhack."

Hamlin replied to that particular user by saying, "4 hours of racing is too long. 4 hours of anything is too long. Stages are needed for TV."

Another chimed in, writing, "Absolutely not. Fans like long races. 400 should be the minimum everywhere except road courses."

A third said, "Nah @dennyhamlin. The answer is not to give the fans less, while ticket and travel costs continue to rise. The answer is get rid of stage cautions. Keep the stages if you want, get rid of the stage cautions, though. They've interrupted great racing and just eats up laps."

A fourth said, "I'm so tired of industry people telling fans what they want, if I'm spending thousands to travel to Nashville I want a 400 mile race. Anything less would make me even question going."

And a fifth commented, "Lol, the O'Reilly race was under 2 hours because they weren't driving over their heads. Hard pass on shortening a 400 mile race."

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Source: “AOL Sports”