The 2025 NASCAR Cup Series race at Iowa Speedway was anything but clean. Drivers repeatedly bumped and jostled for position on a narrow, aging short track that refused to rubber in. Caution after caution disrupted rhythm and strategy, with 12 total cautions covering a staggering 72 of the 350 laps. The average speed, just 92.905 mph reflected the stop-start nature of the event, especially in the second half when green-flag runs were rarely uninterrupted. Momentum was elusive, restarts were chaotic, and patience wore thin inside the cockpit.
That chaos made Iowa a focal point for criticism, particularly since it had entered the calendar to strong fanfare. Drivers and fans alike were excited about Iowa’s return, touting its Midwestern roots and short-track nostalgia. Denny Hamlin himself praised the venue after its 2024 debut, calling it one of the best new additions in years. But following this year’s disjointed showing, Hamlin’s tone has flipped entirely.
Hamlin’s praise turns to fury
Just a day ago, Denny Hamlin reinforced his belief in Iowa’s appetite for racing, saying, “Overall, I thought the crowd was great when we were here,” and speculated that the Cup Series race would attract even bigger turnouts this year given the strong attendance at ARCA events around the same time. But after the caution-filled, Cup race, Hamlin’s tone shifted dramatically. On his podcast, Actions Detrimental, he revisited his own race performance, then turned his focus to the track’s shortcomings.
The Joe Gibbs Racing driver, dissected how Iowa’s incomplete repave has limited racing grooves. “You like to feel the compression of the car, you like to feel that the tires are actually gripping, but these tires, like, they just shatter across the racetrack,” he said. The problem, he argued, was that the harder tire never properly engaged with the surface, leaving most drivers skating rather than hooking up. In contrast, those fortunate enough to start near the front benefitted from cleaner air pushing their cars down, compressing the suspension, and saturating the tires into the track. The net result was a stagnant running order where overtaking became virtually impossible.
Hamlin also took issue with the partial paving project itself. He talked about how he feels on the track as a driver, “I don’t think I’ve ever been in clean air or clean-ish air at that racetrack. I haven’t gotten good restarts there. I just feel like my car is not under me at that track.” he admitted. As the event unfolded, he described watching leaders stretch their advantage in clean air, only to be bottled up for laps at a time behind slower traffic.
Adding to the frustration was the lack of tire degradation over long runs. Hamlin revealed that he had sent Dale Earnhardt Jr. a screenshot the night before, highlighting just how little lap times had fallen off over the course of a stint. “This is the tire that they came up with, the one that had zero fall off after 50 laps,” he said. “How in the world do you expect us to put on a good race when everyone’s going to run the same speed from the beginning of the run to the end of the run?” That uniformity created a dynamic where a driver needed an overwhelming speed advantage, upwards of three-tenths of a second per lap to even consider a pass. It was a scenario that made for a predictably stale spectacle, punctuated only by restarts or moments of chaos.
Even Hamlin’s own performance was marred by tire-related issues. Despite never finding the balance he needed, he still managed to hover near the top 15 until a late-race setback. “We definitely had a bad last run. We had a tire issue that when they took the tire off, it had de-laminated. It corded really, really badly,” he recounted. While he admitted that skipping the initial tire test probably put his team at a disadvantage, he also emphasized that the broader problem extended well beyond one car. For Hamlin, Iowa’s shortcomings were clear and unaddressed, and after this race, he made it equally clear that patience had run out.
Mexico out, Chicago in: Hamlin reflects on a tough call
Last year’s race in Mexico City marked NASCAR’s high-profile return to the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez for the first time in nearly two decades. While the event drew strong fan enthusiasm and showcased international growth, it also brought with it logistical chaos for teams, especially in transporting haulers and equipment across the border. On his podcast, Denny Hamlin acknowledged that reality, saying bluntly, “From a team standpoint, we are wiping our forehead—like, Mexico was really, really challenging.”
As the 2025 schedule dropped, Mexico City was quietly removed in favor of a revived Chicagoland Speedway date. For Hamlin, the switch boiled down to economics: “This stuff comes down to money. Decisions are always made by money.” Still, he didn’t hide his disappointment at losing the international flavor: “No tacos for me. Bummer.”
Denny Hamlin’s reversal on Iowa Speedway, highlights a deeper concern within NASCAR’s evolving landscape. As the sport expands into new venues and juggles logistical compromises, unresolved issues like Iowa’s surface degradation and tire compatibility continue to draw the ire of even its top drivers. Whether NASCAR acts on these criticisms ahead of the 2026 season remains to be seen but for now, Hamlin’s blunt commentary has reignited debate about track priorities and driver safety.
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