Last Sunday, Austin Dillon put on a spectacular race. The Richard Childress Racing driver drove under the lights, setting fire to a Saturday night event at Richmond Raceway. He led for 107 laps in the No. 3 Chevrolet for the first time since Dale Earnhardt did the same en route to his 1988 Daytona 500 victory. Yet although the hype around this race was immense, with fans cheering on their favorite racers, the resulting stats do not match the excitement. But Denny Hamlin is not bothered.<\/p>\n
The Joe Gibbs Racing driver was one of the drivers whom Austin Dillon dumped on the final lap of last year\u2019s race. This year, Denny Hamlin got into another melee spun by another rival, while Dillon won the race. Yet in terms of race popularity, Hamlin believes there is another reason for the decline, rather than Dillon winning on a Saturday.<\/p>\n
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Denny Hamlin spars with NASCAR insider<\/strong><\/p>\n Well, Jeff Gluck and Denny Hamlin engaged in an interview for The Athletic just a week ago. However, they have disagreed over topics before. When NASCAR proposed a \u2018run what you brung\u2019 rules package for the All-Star Race, Gluck chided drivers for rejecting it. Then, Hamlin retorted by pointing out the $2 million costs involved for a race that rewards just $1 million. Similarly, the two NASCAR entities clashed again recently, this time over NASCAR\u2019s Saturday event in Richmond. According to Adam Stern, USA Network \u201cearned a 0.75 rating and 1.4 million viewers\u201d for the 2025 Cook Out 400. The 2024 event was on a Sunday, and it got a \u201c1.2 rating and 2.2 million.\u201d<\/p>\n Jeff Gluck brought up this disparity on X, underlining the better prospects of racing on Sunday. He wrote, \u201cRichmond fans love seeing races there on Saturday night, but TV viewers still prefer Sundays. Richmond got 1.39 million viewers on Saturday night, down 37% from last year\u2019s Richmond race (2.22 million), which was on a Sunday night.\u201d\u00a0But then, Denny Hamlin<\/a> questioned TV viewership scaling up in just one day. That is because the 2024 Richmond race saw an 8.6% decline in viewership compared to 2023\u2019s 2.43 million viewers. He asked Gluck, \u201cAre we na\u00efve enough to think a million more tune in 24 hours later?\u201d<\/p>\n Are we na\u00efve enough to think a million more tune in 24 hours later?<\/p>\n \u2014 Denny Hamlin (@dennyhamlin) August 20, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Then Jeff Gluck defended his stance, bringing up stats from the Iowa race. \u201cI think so, yeah. Iowa got 2.2 million earlier this month, and that wasn\u2019t even a night race. Sundays make a huge difference.\u201d However, Denny Hamlin then harped on his real point of view, which is that just shifting from Saturday to Sunday may not raise TV ratings. Bigger issues will stay<\/a> anyway \u2013 like the Next-Gen car\u2019s passing problems, low horsepower, or the playoff format. Hamlin said, \u201cI was talking about Sunday\u2026Its my concern as well, and I think the problem is much bigger than hitting the exact perfect time window every week.\u201d<\/p>\n Denny Hamlin is more bothered about NASCAR\u2019s glaring problems than Richmond\u2019s Saturday viewership fall. At the same time, however, he believes in the sport\u2019s meritorious value.<\/p>\n ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Assigning himself more responsibility<\/strong><\/p>\n In the age of the Next-Gen, drivers complain of loss of flexibility. With aerodynamic problems and dirty air affecting their pace, most NASCAR drivers cannot pass easily. The evidence is everywhere \u2013 when Brad Keselowski<\/a> led for 68 laps in Iowa and still came up short of the victory. Or when Shane van Gisbergen finished a jaw-dropping 11.116 seconds over runner-up Chris Buescher. Despite these glaring instances of the Next-Gen car\u2019s faults, Denny Hamlin still believes in a driver\u2019s merit. In his recent interview with Jeff Gluck, Hamlin initially assigned 30% luck to a racer\u2019s chances for a championship. However, he revised his statement and cut it down to 10%.<\/p>\n Denny Hamlin explained his revised note to Jeff Gluck about clinching a Cup Series championship. He said, \u201cI lowered luck because it\u2019s not a factor in winning as much as being good is. It is still a factor in some wins, but great drivers have more opportunities to win because of their skill level. Team does matter, but with the Next Gen, you can\u2019t build the difference in cars like you used to. The driver is the one who sends the team in a direction to make the cars fast, thus being the most important.\u201d<\/p>\n ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Although the merit of a title makes sense to Denny Hamlin, the TV viewership logic does not. Unless NASCAR takes steps towards appeasing fans\u2019 demands, it may not improve soon.<\/p>\n\n