“NASCAR Is Imploding”: Fans React as Denny Hamlin Calls Out Veteran Crew Chief Larry McReynolds Amid Playoffs Controversy

With the championship finale at the Phoenix Raceway, Joey Logano becomes the undisputed 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Champion. That said, the media is rife with questions about the #22 Ford Mustang driver’s credibility given the controversial playoffs format the sport has adopted in recent years.

Joe Gibbs Racing driver, Denny Hamlin has now had his say about the criticism as he called out legendary crew chief, Larry McReynolds for his comments on X (formerly Twitter).

The former crew chief and current Fox Sports analyst came onto his social media handle to raise questions on Logano’s title triumph. He attacked the format and took a sly dig at the Team Penske driver for a not-so-dominant path to the Championship 4 showdown.

But Hamlin was having none of that. The #11 Fedex liveried driver retweeted and wrote, “Hey Larry. I know facts are hard to comprehend, but we actually had a Champion crowned in trucks by a driver who didn’t win AT ALL during the season under this format.”

“Sorry so what were you saying about winning again,” he added.

Logano himself has taken a public stand against the criticism he and NASCAR have received over the Playoffs format. In essence, the Cup Series has become a strategic battle between teams and drivers to have the most opportune results — not necessarily the most dominant ones — to be crowned a champion.

Referring to the older format, Logano previously said, “If you go way back, it was 36 weekends, whoever scored the most points. So, someone would win three weeks to go.” Fans seem to resonate with Logano and Hamlin as they weighed their opinions on this Twitter spat.

Fans voice their opinions as Hamlin squares off with McReynolds

Fans stormed to X to give their reactions to this online spat between two legends of this sport. One fan took to the social media platform to voice his excitement over this brawl of words. They wrote, “NASCAR is imploding. I didn’t even watch the “Super Bowl” in Phoenix this year.”

That said, there are differing opinions on the entire format fiasco.

The majority of the fans took Hamlin’s side — giving further credence to Logano’s version of events where he believes that the current format is the most conducive to exciting racing and championships.