Denny Hamlin Says ‘Have At It’ Policy Is Bogus

Denny Hamlin isn’t having any of NASCAR’s “Have at it” policy.

NASCAR promised to let drivers be more aggressive this season and open things up, but Hamlin said Wednesday that it’s nothing but a bunch of empty hype.

Hamlin’s reality-check comments were like the cartoon storm cloud that comes and rains on all the fun.

“The new ‘have at it’ attitude, whatever that is that people are talking about, has nothing to do with how we race every single week,” Hamlin said. “All it has to do with is superspeedway racing. That’s four weekends of the 36.

“You’re not going to see any type of different racing for the rest of the 32 races. You’re not going to see guys getting out and fighting. We have sponsors, we have obligations to a lot of different people.”

Those damn sponsors. Now that NASCAR can’t be accused of blunting the drivers’ personalities, the focus has shifted to the sponsors. Corporate America, it seems, does not want its spokesmen fighting and talking trash.

Dang it.

“What you saw in 1979, you’re not going to see in 2010 - it’s just different times,” said Hamlin, who is sponsored by FedEx. “You get in more trouble. ... Sure, [NASCAR would] love to see it from a ratings standpoint, but it’s going to be bad for you from a sponsor standpoint.

“We don’t want to do that stuff anyway. It’s not like it used to be. We’re all in a motorcourt area, we’re all parked beside each other each week, most of these families are all close to each other outside racing. Any animosity outside racing is more media-filled than anything.”

Bummer.