Denny Hamlin approves of North Wilkesboro repave: 'As good as any' repave before

Denny Hamlin believes the North Wilkesboro repave is one the track can be proud of, as a tremendous job was done, creating some awesome racing.

During the episode of his Actions Detrimental podcast following the NASCAR All-Star Race, Hamlin lauded the repave, believing it really changed the game at North Wilkesboro, and elevated the track for drivers and fans alike.

“Yeah, it really was,” Hamlin responded, asked if the North Wilkesboro repave was a grand success. “I mean, you know, it definitely has the bumps that it had before, and likely it’s because they just paved like they did at Sonoma. It worked out nicely here, but like they did at Sonoma, where they just cut the top layer off, and then paved on it. I think I saw photos, that’s kind of just how they did it. … They probably should address that, because it is hampering the ability to go to the bottom. There is a massive, massive bump off of Turn 4, that could use some addressing, for sure. … That probably hurts, a little bit. I think that it creates a huge shockwave throughout the car.

“But other than that, I thought it was really, really good. It had consistency, from top to bottom. We were able to move up, move through the middle, to the bottom. It had options, for sure. So I thought it raced as good as any repave that we’ve ever seen, truly.”

Continuing, Hamlin elaborated a bit more on the repave and what it did to create a better product in North Wilkesboro, especially crediting the Truck Series race as where drivers were able to shine.

“It just seems like it has some variable banking, especially through one and two, that it’s — the very bottom lane is, let’s just pretend it’s flat. You’ve got the next lane in the middle, which has got a little more camber to it. And then the top lane, that’s got even more,” Hamlin explained. “So the higher up you run, the more momentum you’re going to have on the exit, but you can run lower, cut distance and get beside the person. So I thought it created great racing. 

“The truck racing, I thought it was phenomenal. But the Cup teams are all just so close. So I think it was a really, really good repave. You’ve got to give credit where it’s due. Certainly feel like it’s got the potential, if we can get all this right, to be one of the best short-tracks that we have.”

That’s pretty big praise from Denny Hamlin on the potential of North Wilkesboro following its repave. We’ll see if NASCAR sees the same in the track, but nonetheless, it’s evident Hamlin and a bunch of other wheelmen believe North Wilkesboro took a step in the right direction with their adjustments.