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Denny Hamlin said every Chevrolet team in the Cup Series ultimately answers to Rick Hendrick, and that drivers like Ross Chastain had no choice but to help Kyle Larson at Talladega Superspeedway. “You have to suck at the teat of the master,” Hamlin said.
Hamlin made the comments on this week’s episode of his Actions Detrimental podcast, after being asked about Chastain blocking a lane of traffic at the end of Stage 1 while he was a lap down.
Hamlin: ‘He’s doing what he’s told’
“He’s doing what he’s told,” Hamlin said. “As a driver, you’re the lowest on the totem pole when it comes to team orders or manufacturer orders.”
“I’m gonna put Hendrick at the top. Then, I’m gonna put below that, Chevy. Then below that I’m gonna put Trackhouse, and then below that I’m gonna have the crew chief. Then below that is the driver.”
He said that applies to every Chevrolet team. “If you are Trackhouse or you’re a Spire or you’re Hyak or you’re whoever else, it all runs through Rick Hendrick. It does not run through Chevy. That Chevy Technical Center is Hendrick Motorsports Performance Center.”
‘The teat of the master’
“That’s what it is. And so you have to suck at the teat of the master. I mean, that’s just the way this thing works. And I’m sorry, but that is the truth,” Hamlin said.
He said no other Chevrolet team will match Hendrick Motorsports. “I don’t believe anyone will ever be Tier 1 with Chevy other than Hendrick because you control it,” he said. “Do we really honestly believe that RCR is getting the same information as Hendrick from Chevy? Come on.”
Hamlin added that Larson had earned the help. “The 5 car has earned his right to be the number one guy that everyone else has to look out for, even if you’re not actually associated with the same race team as he is.”
The report that started it
Hamlin pointed to SiriusXM NASCAR Radio’s Danielle Trotta, who posted before the race that Chevrolet had told its teams to help Larson collect stage points. “We all know it. People just didn’t like to see it in writing,” Hamlin said.
https://x.com/DanielleTrotta/status/2114396516244738165
Hendrick Motorsports president Jeff Andrews said this week that Hendrick has no team orders. NASCAR said SMT data showed the Chevrolets around Larson on the final lap did not lift.
Where the Chase stands
Larson won at Talladega and leads Hamlin, a Toyota driver for Joe Gibbs Racing, by 73 points with two races left. Larson clinches the title at Martinsville Speedway on Sunday if he leaves with a lead of at least 77 points. The Xfinity 500 is Sunday, November 1, at 2 p.m. ET on NBC from Ridgeway, Virginia.
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