After a lukewarm reception to last year’s All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway, NASCAR brass did their best to defend the spectacle. COO Steve O’Donnell acknowledged the flashes of excitement, particularly the final laps, but also admitted it fell short overall. The fan response made that clear. NASCAR promised changes, stressing that it would “take the time, be smart about this” before tweaking the product.
So, for 2025, NASCAR decided to shake the tree. Under pressure to fix the struggling short-track package and pump life into the All-Star Race, they brought out a bold concept: “Run What You Brung.” The idea was simple on paper—let teams modify their cars freely, giving engineers the reins and opening the garage doors to innovation. The rules? Basically, none. But NASCAR wouldn’t foot the bill. Teams had to cover all costs, and any new components couldn’t be used elsewhere.
That made it a one-off science project, with a $1 million prize dangling like a carrot. The race would also jump to 250 laps, throw in promoter’s cautions, and spice up the pit crew challenge. Exciting? Maybe. Expensive? Absolutely. Now, NASCAR faces a mess of its own making. Teams didn’t bite. And Denny Hamlin didn’t just say no—he lit the match. His latest dig at NASCAR’s communications boss, Mike Forde, wasn’t just sarcastic. It was a full-throated takedown of a plan he calls financially insane.
Denny Hamlin didn’t mince words about the 2025 All-Star Race changes. On his Actions Detrimental podcast, he explained why 23XI Racing wouldn’t be taking part in NASCAR’s freedom experiment. “No team will sign up to lose millions,” he said. He estimated the cost to build a car that could even sniff the front of the field at over $300,000. For his team, fully preparing for the event would cost them nearly $2 million. Was Hamlin excited for the event? He admitted it freely. “Generally speaking, if you’re just talking to me, the racecar driver and the fan, I’m gonna say, ‘Damn, I wish we had this.’ This would be fantastic. There could possibly be something that gets learned for the short-track package that could make it better.”
But the real kicker was the risk versus reward aspect. Against the $1 million prize, teams had to experiment with expensive Next-Gen parts. “Who’s going to pay for it?” Hamlin asked. “It’s because the teams don’t have enough money,” Hamlin said. “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 million loss, give me a million? I’ll take a million loss.’ You can’t do that. It’s not sustainable.”
Then came the spark. NASCAR’s Mike Forde, speaking on the Hauler Talk podcast, took a jab at Hamlin. “I think his math was off by about two million dollars,” Forde said. He went further, claiming the whole operation might actually save money. “It could cost zero,” he insisted. He ended the segment with a wink: “I did text with Danny… you can hear all the goods on our hottest new podcast.”
Hamlin didn’t let that slide. He fired back on X (formerly Twitter): “Oh, it cost us nothing to run a race team now. Whew, this business is easier than I thought. BTW, Great stats on Sunday!” The sarcasm was thick and deserved. Building a car for a one-off race isn’t just expensive; it’s inefficient. Teams don’t have endless R&D budgets to throw away on moonshot projects, especially not for a race that offers zero playoff points and no return on parts. “You’re asking us to spend like a manufacturer, race like a team, and gamble like a casino,” Hamlin said earlier this month. “It’s not how you run a business.”
Oh it cost us nothing to run a raceteam now. Whew, this business is easier than I thought. BTW, Great stats on Sunday!
— Denny Hamlin (@dennyhamlin) April 30, 2025
Others share Hamlin’s concerns. Dale Earnhardt Jr. called for deeper fixes, not gimmicks. On The Dale Jr Download, he said, “It’s foolish for us to go to Wilkesboro and not change anything.” But he wasn’t backing the current “Run What You Brung” either. He wants better rules for the short-track package, not just a blank check to engineers. “We can’t pretend this is 1992 again,” he said, referencing Davey Allison’s wild win on “One Hot Night.”
Dale Jr. argued that NASCAR missed a real opportunity. While the 2025 format brings some chaos, it doesn’t address the core issue—bad racing at small tracks with the Next Gen car. “Give us real flexibility, real changes. Not a one-time lab test that no one can afford,” he urged. Meanwhile, the garages are going quiet again. The silence says it all. NASCAR’s most radical idea in years couldn’t even spark curiosity.
Teams turned it down before it ever became public. And now, the damage is done. With top names like Hamlin pulling out and mocking leadership, the All-Star Race faces a crisis of credibility. The big question now? Will any major team show up at all? For Hamlin, frustration is boiling over. And not just with the All-Star mess. He had another reason to vent this week—Ross Chastain. Their clash at Talladega only added fuel to the fire.
Hamlin Slams Ross Chastain – “Bulls!!! Racing”
At Talladega, the closing laps saw another chapter in the long, rocky history between Denny Hamlin and Ross Chastain. As the Toyotas made a move up high to gain position, Chastain threw a late block on Hamlin that stalled their momentum. It was the kind of move that’s become too familiar for Hamlin, who ended the race in 21st, just behind Chastain.
On Monday’s Actions Detrimental podcast, Hamlin didn’t hold back. He explained that he confronted Chastain directly after the race. “I threw a theory at him,” Hamlin said. “If I made that move on you, what would you do? Would you lift, or would you say, ‘Denny, that was a dumbass move, you gotta pay for it?’”
Hamlin believes Chastain’s move was reckless. “He swerved in front of a charging pack at a lower speed. That’s dangerous. That’s bullshit racing,” he said. He questioned why NASCAR didn’t black-flag Chastain for the maneuver. “You can’t just move across a lane like that and kill the run for everyone.” Frustrated, Hamlin made it clear this wasn’t just about one race. “I’ve been wrecked too many times at these tracks. I’ve lost too many good finishes. So now? Maybe I don’t care either,” he said. “Maybe I just slam it in there next time and say, ‘Sorry, that was your fault, not mine.’”
In his eyes, the current superspeedway style punishes smart racing. “If you play it clean, you get burned. So maybe it’s time to stop playing it clean,” he said. Hamlin sounded tired of the same storyline: aggressive blocks, zero accountability, and the same drivers getting away with chaos. “It’s like we’ve all accepted that this is just part of the deal now. But it doesn’t make it right.” With NASCAR officials staying silent and Chastain offering no public response, it’s clear this feud isn’t cooling off.
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