Denny Hamlin has been one of the major voices to raise concerns regarding safety issues in the Next Gen car.
The Joe Gibbs Racing No. 11 driver went on as much to say that the problems that the Next Gen car have is because of “bad leadership” in NASCAR after seeing two drivers suffer concussion-like symptoms in crashes this year.
“NASCAR is doing a good job” – RCR’s Petree contradicts Harvick’s and Hamlin’s claim regarding drivers’ safety with Nex Gen car
A day after Hamlin’s comment, he had a meeting with NASCAR President Steve Phelps before Sunday’s Cup playoff race at Talladega Superspeedway. Revealing the details of the meeting, Hamlin was rather in support of the president and explained in comment regarding leadership in more detail.
“I’m grateful for Steve Phelps. He is a leader that we need. He is not who I directed any of my comments toward because he’s a huge asset for our sport.
“Me and Steve talk about much bigger and broader things than the safety of the cars. He’s got a lot bigger tasks ahead of him. I don’t task him or bog him down with knick-knack things like car safety.”
Hamlin cleared the air with Phelps and the media by asserting that Phelps is the best president he has had in NASCAR.
“We talked about that because we have that kind of relationship. I trust Steve. Best relationship I’ve had with any president of NASCAR. He’s done a lot for our sport. I made it very clear that I wasn’t directing anything at him.”
Many drivers have come out against safety concerns in the Next Gen car. Recently, Chase Elliott voiced his criticism against it by saying that it was supposed to take NASCAR forward and not backward in many aspects.
I read the article about Denny Hamlin talking to Steve. He stated he didn’t want to bog Steve down with knick knack things like safety. Maybe he should switch places with Kurt Busch. I don’t think Kurt thinks safety is a knick knack thing.