NASCAR Director Claps Back At Denny Hamlin's $2 Million All-Star Claim

Newsweek

30-04-2025

Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
NASCAR managing director of racing communications Mike Forde has dismissed 23XI Racing co-owner Denny Hamlin's recent claims that the proposed "Run What Ya Brung" All-Star Race would have left the teams making a financial loss.
During an appearance on the Hauler Talk podcast, Forde clapped back at Hamlin's claims, stating:
"Denny talked about how this would cost potentially $2 million if we went ahead and did this. I think his math was off by about $2 million," Forde joked.
"But what actually it could cost is $0 or potentially save teams money, believe it or not. And I'm sorry, Denny, but I did text with Denny. I told him, 'You can listen to NASCAR's hottest new podcast on Wednesday for all of the goods.'"
Denny Hamlin, driver of the #11 Progressive Toyota, looks on during qualifying for the NASCAR Cup Series Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway on April 12, 2025 in Bristol, Tennessee.
Denny Hamlin, driver of the #11 Progressive Toyota, looks on during qualifying for the NASCAR Cup Series Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway on April 12, 2025 in Bristol, Tennessee.
Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images
He added:
"What we presented to the teams is that you cannot modify any parts, you cannot build any new parts, you can't create any new parts, everything still had to be single-sourced. But there was a list of things we were going to allow teams to do."
Forde continued:
"And part two about this, and why I say teams actually probably could have saved money on this idea is if you didn't want to do anything, if you wanted to not come up with any idea, you can just build your cars, what you could have done is used body panels that probably aren't race-ready for a Talladega or a Coke 600, but probably too good for a show car, and use it for the All-Star Race," Forde said.
"So, you could have used sort of like hand-me-downs, which they do now, but if it's hand-me-downs that are not up-to-snuff for a points race, you could have used it there, and actually saved some money."
What did Denny Hamlin say about the rejected All-Star proposal?
The Joe Gibbs Racing driver took the opportunity to clarify his stance on the proposed All-Star "Run What Ya Brung" feature on his Actions Detrimental podcast. He explained, as previously reported by Newsweek Sports:
"I know Jeff Gluck had a massive rant last night on 'The Teardown' about the teams talking about the money. But it is a reality.
"Everyone wants to have fun and do all these things, but who is going to pay for it? ... We are gonna destroy three cars to build this car. Under the rules, it was like you have to use Next Gen parts, but you can do whatever you want to them.
"So, we're going to destroy every piece and part of that car and make it lighter or something. Like, we're going to modify it. Going to bend the chassis and do all types of things to this thing that will make it illegal at any other racetrack that we go to?"
He added:
"We've been very transparent in the fact that this car cost $300,000.
"Do the math real quick. If I put my three cars on the racetrack and just to build this wild, illegal car, I'm going to destroy it and now I lose one more car out of my fleet.
"I only get seven cars per door number. So, that's three cars that are wiped out of my fleet that I'm not going to get a replacement for because I'm not going to get a replacement car if the car has damage to it if you wreck it. You have to show NASCAR that it's wrecked, bent or whatever and you need another chassis. I can't afford to lose that out of my rotation.
"We used to have 14 cars, now we're down to seven. The whole cost-cutting thing was to shorten up how many cars we have in our stable. Can you ask for another chassis? Sure, but I'm gonna spend $1 million just on parts and pieces.
"We haven't even developed anything yet. So, just in parts and pieces to replace all this sh*t we're gonna modify, we're gonna spend a sh*t ton of money. And it only pays $1 million to win. It's paid $1 million to win for 30 years. It's not that cool anymore. Even if one of my cars won, I don't see this as even remotely breakeven proposition."
The 44-year old concluded:
"For those like Jeff Gluck that complain about, 'well, all you talk about is money.' It's because the teams don't have enough money. This is what we're fighting for. This is what we've been talking about.
"If you continue to lose money year after year, why would you just raise your hand and say, 'sure, I'll take another $1 million loss.' You can't do that. It's not sustainable. It's not possible under the parameters set in front of us and that was that do whatever you want."