Denny Hamlin is riding high after a fifth-place finish in Phoenix this past Sunday, raising him to 12th on the NASCAR table. It was his best finish to a race since his win at Las Vegas last year. But even though he’s racing in Vegas this week, he’s got his eyes on next weekend’s trip to Darlington.
On the latest episode of his Actions Detrimental podcast, Hamlin addressed the upcoming March 22 race at Darlington Raceway, which will be contested on a new short track package. Rather than being excited for the changes, Hamlin warned that the small change could result in some cars getting out of control.
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“It’s going to be a small incremental change,” Hamlin said. “Again, the small change, what was the racing truly better this time around? Was it 10 percent maybe? I mean 15 percent, but it’s something. And so, I think you’ll see that same change at other racetracks. One thing I will tell you is that heads up on Darlington, you want to see some cars out of control here in a few weeks.”
The Wild Card
Hamlin further predicted a notable amount of fall off due to the track changes in combination with the changes to the cars themselves. Ultimately, he expects the Goodyear 400 race to be “a wild card.”
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“These cars, with essentially little to no underbody because we’re now going to the short track aerodynamic package for Darlington, these cars are out of control,” Hamlin said. “I’m predicting four seconds of fall off, it might be more. It’s just the cars with the underbody taken off and that simple diffuser, just even on new tires, just absolutely out of control. So, it’s going to be a wild card race.”
DARLINGTON, SOUTH CAROLINA – MAY 11: Patrick Emerling, driver of the #07 Liberty Brew Chevrolet, Brennan Poole, driver of the #44 CW & Sons Infrastructure Chevrolet, Matt DiBenedetto, driver of the #38 Viking Motorsports Ford, Blaine Perkins, driver of the #29 To The Point Apparel Ford, David Starr, driver of the #14 SHAR Ford, Josh Williams, driver of the #11 Alloy Employer Services Chevrolet, and John H. Nemechek, driver of the #26 Toyota Racing Development Toyota, race during the NASCAR Xfinity Series Crown Royal Purple Bag Project 200 at Darlington Raceway on May 11, 2024 in Darlington, South Carolina. (Photo by Meg Oliphant/Getty Images)Meg Oliphant/Getty Images
(Meg Oliphant/Getty Images)
Hamlin has historically done very well at Darlington. He has finished in the top 10 in each of his last four trips there, including a win in last year’s Goodyear 400.
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If there’s one person who doesn’t want anything new to show up, it’s him.
This story was originally published by The Spun on Mar 10, 2026, where it first appeared in the NASCAR section. Add The Spun as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
