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NASCAR: Denny Hamlin’s salary claim could not be more asinine

By Asher Fair

DOVER, DE - OCTOBER 01: Denny Hamlin, driver of the #11 FedEx Freight Toyota, stands on the grid prior to the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Apache Warrior 400 presented by Lucas Oil at Dover International Speedway on October 1, 2017 in Dover, Delaware. (Photo by Jerry Markland/Getty Images)
DOVER, DE - OCTOBER 01: Denny Hamlin, driver of the #11 FedEx Freight Toyota, stands on the grid prior to the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Apache Warrior 400 presented by Lucas Oil at Dover International Speedway on October 1, 2017 in Dover, Delaware. (Photo by Jerry Markland/Getty Images) /
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Denny Hamlin recently made comments about how he feels NASCAR drivers are underpaid. Those comments could not be more asinine.

Denny Hamlin, 36, who drives the #11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota in the NASCAR Cup Series, recently made headlines for making controversial comments about NASCAR drivers’ salaries and how they are too low given the amount of danger they face racing every week.

He particularly compared them relative to the salaries of NBA and NFL players, which makes sense seeing as how they make far more money than NASCAR drivers do and don’t face nearly the amount of danger that NASCAR drivers do at their respective sports.

But Hamlin fails to see the entire picture. Here are his comments.

"“We’re way underpaid as race car drivers. There’s no doubt, doing what we do, the schedule that we have and the danger that we incur every single week, NASCAR drivers should be making NBA, NFL money.”“I’m sure this will be in some headline somewhere where Denny says drivers aren’t paid enough, but I’m basing it off all other sports. I’m not including myself. I’m including the back half of the field — those drivers are risking the same amount I am and they should be paid a hell of a lot more.”“There’s got to be a reset, and it doesn’t come from the drivers. “It comes from NASCAR helping the teams survive on a better basis…There just has to be different revenue-sharing.”"

Now have a look at that second paragraph again.

"“I’m sure this will be in some headline somewhere where Denny says drivers aren’t paid enough, but I’m basing it off all other sports. I’m not including myself. I’m including the back half of the field — those drivers are risking the same amount I am and they should be paid a hell of a lot more.”"

If for one second you think this isn’t just to cover his own rear end from backlash, you could not be more wrong. Clearly he’s saving himself from the inevitable and justifiable backlash from saying something as outlandish as he said. The proof is the fact that he made these claims at all, especially this one:

"“We’re way underpaid as race car drivers. There’s no doubt, doing what we do, the schedule that we have and the danger that we incur every single week.”"

Denny Hamlin had a net worth of $30 million in 2013, which isn’t a small amount by any stretch of the imagination whether you’re comparing it to the salaries of NBA and NFL players or Bill Gates. $30 million is $30 million, and Hamlin is obviously worth a whole lot more than that now as a 31-time race winner on NASCAR’s top level. So why is he complaining?

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He is complaining because all he wants to do is compare NASCAR drivers’ salaries to the salaries of NBA and NFL players. And his points about them make sense to a certain extent. NASCAR drivers do partake in far more risky activities than those other athletes do. However, the NBA and NFL are far more popular, and thus get lots money from fans via ticket and merchandise sales.

What Hamlin doesn’t mention is the fact that there are non-athletes out there who partake in activities so risky that they made NASCAR look like a cakewalk. And they get paid pennies compared to NASCAR drivers despite the fact that their jobs are actually helping people as opposed to putting on a competitive show for fans.

Take, for instance, people in the military, policemen, firemen, EMT’s, paramedics and all other kinds of first responders. An active duty solider makes around $99,000 annually, with a lot of that being non-cash compensation such as benefits, while firemen average around $47,000 annually, policemen average around $60,000 and EMTs and paramedics average around $32,000 annually.

But you don’t hear them whining about wanting NBA or NFL money, or even the “measly” NASCAR pay.

Next: 10 NASCAR drivers who deserve better rides

Oh, and their positions are actually real jobs, not just competitive events like Hamlin competes in and thinks he deserves NBA-type and NFL-type money for participating in when he is already a multi-millionaire that will have no financial worries for the rest of his life. His comments are ridiculous.

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