Denny Hamlin Agrees Lower Series Drivers Don’t Belong in the Hall of Fame
What’s Happening? NASCAR Cup Series driver Denny Hamlin joined one of the hottest conversations in the NASCAR community, agreeing that lower-level…
The debate over the NASCAR Hall of Fame has turned into a tug of war, with fresh voices stepping into the ring every now and then. With nominees for the Class of 2027, led by Kevin Harvick, now out in the open, the conversation has gathered pace and shows no sign of slowing down.
The spark was lit when Dale Earnhardt Jr., TJ Majors, and Dale Jr Download producer, Travis Rockhold, weighed in on the topic.
Rockhold’s stance that drivers from series below the Cup do not belong in the Hall of Fame left Dale Jr. taken aback, laying the base for a wider back-and-forth. Former Cup Series driver Kenny Wallace then threw his weight behind Rockhold, while Door, Bumper, Clear host Freddie Kraft backed Dale Jr., drawing a line in the sand.
Now, NASCAR Cup Series veteran and future Hall of Famer Denny Hamlin has added his voice to the chorus, siding with Rockhold and Wallace.
Last week, Hamlin teased that he agreed with the less popular of the two arguments on X. This week, on his Actions Detrimental podcast, Hamlin openly framed the Hall of Fame as the summit of the sport, a place reserved for those who have reached the top rung.
“I agreed with Kenny Wallace… I don’t care what you accomplish in your career. If you get into the Hall of Fame, it is the pinnacle of your career. There is no higher accomplishment in your place of work than reaching the Hall of Fame,” Hamlin said.
He argued that drawing a straight line between success in lower series and success at the top level misses the mark. In his view, the ladder from ARCA to Truck to the O’Reilly series and then to Cup exists for a reason, serving as a proving ground where drivers earn their stripes before reaching the top tier.
“Are they just going to skip the winning in trucks, winning the championship, going to O’Reily, winning a race, winning the championship? Do you just skip all of it and just go right to the pinnacle? I don’t know. I think, to oversimplify this, I think it’s okay if everyone they’re talking about gets in, but it certainly should be a tiered system. I just think that it diminishes the great in my opinion.” — Denny Hamlin
Hamlin, who himself is widely expected to find a place in the Hall of Fame down the road, made it clear that in his book, the honor should not be handed out like candy. It should be earned through results at the top of the heap.
What’s Happening? NASCAR Cup Series driver Denny Hamlin joined one of the hottest conversations in the NASCAR community, agreeing that lower-level…
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