“I Don’t Love It”: Why Denny Hamlin Hates the NASCAR Championship Format

The NASCAR championship format has changed a lot over the years. Things weren’t always the way they are today; there was no concept of a playoff or any round-based elimination format. But over time, in a bid to increase fan engagement up until the last race, the promotion decided to mix things up. While some drivers enjoy what the current playoff system has to offer, others like Denny Hamlin despise the format.

Recently, while speaking with Frank Fleming of Barstool Sports, Hamlin explained his reasons for disliking the current format. He stated, “I don’t love it… The reason I don’t love it coming down to one race is that racing is a sport where luck is involved. And it’s not… luck is a very loose term that people use.”

“But when you’re competing in a championship in any other sport, it’s one on one your team versus the other team. The difference in NASCAR’s it’s one against three. But there’s 33 other guys out there that can completely screw up your day.”

Things like this have happened on multiple occasions where a non-championship participant caused a wreck that ruined the day of a Championship Four contender. Hamlin is not happy with a single championship race to decide the outcome because in circumstances like this, it’s not just the skills that help a driver to win, but luck plays a major role.

Denny Hamlin suggests changes for the championship round

Hamlin went on to elaborate on the matter suggesting that NASCAR should have a championship round. This is considering that the playoffs have rounds of three races before each elimination. The JGR driver argues that the championship decider too should be a best of three and not just one race that decides the fate of who takes home the crown that year.

“Why don’t we have a championship round. Challenge these drivers at multiple different racetracks. I mean, I don’t care if you put a road course in the championship round. At least, your crowning achievement champion off a larger sample size…” Hamlin concluded.

Perhaps the inclusion of three races to determine the champion would be a good thing that the promotion can look into.