Suarez, Hamlin, Busch and Logano agree on NASCAR | Sports News

Daniel Suarez, Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch, and Joey Logano are all in settlement over NASCAR’s part-time driver approval course of after Katherine Legge’s disastrous Cup Series debut in Phoenix.

The motorsport veteran, 44, tried her hand in stock car racing’s premier collection, changing into the primary girl to drive within the Cup Series since Danica Patrick in 2018, however misplaced control of the car 4 laps into the race, spinning out.

Later within the race, Legge collided with a rival after spinning out again, however this time accumulating Daniel Suarez and ending each of their races. Following the incident, NASCAR stars Suarez, Hamlin, Busch, and defending Cup Series champion Logano have all questioned the governing physique’s approval course of.

“I believe that I’m one of the best racing drivers in a stock car in the world, and if I want to run Formula 1 tomorrow or Formula 2, I can’t,” Suarez mentioned. “I’m not qualified to do that… and I shouldn’t.

“I consider that the method to permit anyone to run within the Cup Series needs to be a little bit tougher for respect to the driving force that’s making an attempt, to respect the followers, and to respect the drivers and groups which are operating full time as a result of we work very exhausting to get into foolish accidents just like the one [at Phoenix].” 

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Suarez added that Legge was set up to fail and admitted he is more upset in NASCAR: “She received set for failure. It does not matter if you happen to’re a great driver or a unhealthy driver. If you’re thrown in a single of probably the most troublesome collection on this planet to be aggressive, is simply not truthful. That’s the way in which I noticed it. I used to be more upset in NASCAR than her.”

Meanwhile, Hamlin was impressed by Legge ahead of the Cup Series’ fourth race of the 2025 season. Legge was singled out for praise by Hamlin to Kyle Larson, who’s versatile in multiple motorsport disciplines. “It ought to open eyes to NASCAR that we’re not very strict in who will get to run Cup automobiles,” Hamlin said. “It needs to be probably the most elite collection and you should not have the ability to are available everytime you need.” 

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Hamlin added: “I really feel unhealthy for Katherine as a result of I instructed Kyle Larson on the drivers’ assembly, ‘How spectacular is it? She’s solely a second off in an underfunded car, and by no means operating on this kind of collection. “That’s really, really, really impressive.”

As for Busch, he sees it from a driver and proprietor’s perspective. He admitted to being annoyed with having younger drivers denied the chance to race in his previous Truck Series workforce.

“Being an owner [previously] in the Truck Series and seeing some young drivers get opportunities at different tracks versus my drivers that I was trying to get them opportunities at some of those same tracks getting denied — I was very confused, and probably I’m even more confused now on how it all works, I think it’s broken,” Busch mentioned.

“There’s a lot of work that could be done to make it better. I also do feel as though it shouldn’t be ‘suit and ties’ making the decisions.”

Defending champion Logano was extraordinarily sympathetic in direction of Suarez, who had his race ruined. The Team Penske star says the Mexican has each proper to be upset. Legge struggled for grip across the high-speed Phoenix oval. “I would consider Phoenix a fairly high-speed oval,” Logano mentioned.

“I know it’s only a mile, but you’re carrying some good speed around there, and there’s a lot of potential to get in trouble, and we saw two cautions [at Phoenix] that unfortunately ruined Suarez’s day and it was not his fault. If I was him, I’d be very upset. Very upset.”

Suarez practically made amends on the weekend, although, in Las Vegas. He completed second behind Josh Berry within the Pennzoil 400. A victory would’ve boosted his probabilities of securing a postseason spot.