Denny Hamlin recently questioned whether RCR gets the same technical info from Chevy as HMS does. He raised it in the context of the Chevy Talladega strategy and directly challenged the notion that all major Chevy teams have access to the same information.
“Do we really honestly believe like that RCR is getting the same information as Hendrick from Chevy?” Hamlin said on the latest episode of his Actions Detrimental podcast.
The JGR driver maintained that Hendrick has more sway within the Chevrolet NASCAR operation than any other organization within it. And on top of that, the chain of command starts with the driver, goes through the crew chief and the team, up to Chevrolet, and then obviously through to Rick Hendrick’s organization.
“I’m going to put Hendrick at the top, then below that is Chevrolet, and below that is Trackhouse. Below that is the crew chief and then below that is the driver — that is the totem pole in which (Chastain) is answering to. They have no choice,” he said.
“That’s why in my mind, I don’t believe anyone will ever be Tier One with Chevy other than Hendrick because you control it. And so, as long as you control it, you control how that information gets shared,” Hamlin added.
The No. 11 Toyota driver had previously referred to RCR and Trackhouse as Tier 1 Chevys when talking about Brad Keselowski’s future. In that same conversation, he admitted he didn’t know all the benefits of being a Tier 1 organization. But he said there’s a clear difference between having Tier 1 status and the level of influence and access he feels Hendrick has.
Talladega pushed Denny Hamlin to question Chevrolet’s internal structure
Talladega race drove the discussion, where Kyle Larson came into the weekend as Chevrolet’s best chance at the championship. Danielle Trotta reported prior to the race that Chevrolet wanted their teams to assist Larson in staying in track position near the end of the stages so as to maximize his points.
Hamlin defended that reporting after fans and industry figures challenged it.
“We all know it. People just didn’t like to see it in writing,” he said.
He used Ross Chastain as an example of why a Chevrolet driver could be under pressure to support Larson. Chastain ultimately answered to Trackhouse Racing and Chevrolet, so he doesn’t have much freedom to ignore a manufacturer’s directive when the championship comes down to the final races.
“What choice does Ross have? He has to answer to these people that employ him,” Hamlin said. “He’s doing what he’s told. So as a driver, you’re the lowest on the totem pole when it comes to team orders or manufacturer orders.”
Larson eventually took the win at Talladega after a very chaotic final lap. He had dropped out of the lead group after getting loose off Turn 2, before Chastain managed to push him back up towards the front. Larson then moved through the middle and edged out William Byron by 0.041 seconds.
That incident led to a host of questions as to whether any of the other Chevrolet drivers had in fact helped Larson get to the checkered flag first. NASCAR looked at the throttle data from Byron, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., and Cole Custer and found no evidence that any of those drivers had deliberately lifted to assist Larson. Ryan Blaney also stated that Larson had simply put on a huge run and the others in front of him had all reacted to different lanes.
However, Hamlin seemed convinced that Larson had earned Chevrolet’s championship priority through his performance. He questioned whether Hendrick’s position within Chevrolet gives the organization any influence beyond race-day manufacturer cooperation.
“That Chevy Technical Center is Hendrick Motorsports Performance Center. That’s what it is,” he said.
Not to mention, General Motors publicly refers to the Concord facility as its own motorsports technical centre and states that the engineers there support the Chevrolet and Cadillac racing programmes. The facilities provide access to a range of resources including driver in the loop simulation, aerodynamic development, vehicle modelling and engineering tools.
Its location also underpins Hamlin’s argument, as the center sits next to Hendrick Motorsports.
RCR also has deep roots in Chevrolet’s engineering structure. GM brought in former RCR exec Eric Warren in 2020 to head up the NASCAR work and to oversee the competition side of the technical center.
But the fact is, Chevrolet does not disclose exactly what technical data each Cup organization receives, when teams receive it, or whether every affiliated operation gets identical access to every resource.
That secrecy has given Hamlin space to question the system.
Chevrolet can certainly ask their affiliated drivers to work with their top championship contender (that’s what manufacturers have done in the past at the superspeedways). Hamlin is now asking whether the competitive dynamic goes any further and whether Hendrick is in an even stronger position when Chevrolet is sharing technical information.
But that same question can be raised against Joe Gibbs Racing team as well, about how much more information about the Toyota cars do they have compared to the other teams like 23XI Racing, or Legacy Motor Club, given that JGR is also a Tier 1 team.