“That Would Be a Good Option”: Chase Briscoe Backs Denny Hamlin’s Crucial NASCAR Playoff Proposal

NASCAR fans and longtime drivers have pushed for a format overhaul for years, with many offering their own fixes. Kevin Harvick once proposed giving regular-season champions a straight ticket to the Round of 12, while Denny Hamlin suggested replacing the one-race title decider with a three-race finale to prevent any driver in the Championship 4 from gaining a track-specific edge. On that front, Chase Briscoe finds himself in lockstep with his teammate.

Appearing on The Dale Jr. Download podcast, the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing driver said he always admired the original Chase format, where making the playoffs meant running a full 10-race stretch that still came down to the wire. To him, the final race still carried weight, but consistency across the postseason mattered most.

Even so, he admitted he would back an expanded finale. “I would definitely not be against, like, a three-race final round. I think that would be a good option because a win doesn’t really change anything for you, but you still have to be good over three races.”

To prove his point, Briscoe posed a scenario: if a driver dominated the season by winning 35 races but blew an engine on Lap 1 of the finale at Phoenix or Homestead, that driver could still lose the title and finish no better than fourth. To him, that outcome doesn’t sit right.

“To me, that’s not right… I don’t necessarily love that part of it. So, I think the three race(s) deal like you still have to perform really, really well. The championship four would still have a huge significance, but it’s not one race because the one race deal you still have it where some teams and drivers are just better at some racetracks,” he explained.

Briscoe believes such a system would act as a leveler, forcing contenders to prove themselves across multiple types of racetracks, the ones they are comfortable with and the uncomfortable ones, perhaps a mile-and-a-half, a short track, and another distinct layout. Still, he firmly drew the line: “definitely team no Superspeedway” beyond the Round of 12.

About the author

Neha Dwivedi

Neha Dwivedi is an experienced NASCAR Journalist at The SportsRush, having penned over 5500 articles on the sport to date. She was a seasoned writer long before she got into the world of NASCAR. Although she loves to see Martin Truex Jr. and Kyle Busch win the races, she equally supports the emerging talents in the CARS Late Model and ARCA Menards Series.. For her work in NASCAR she has earned accolades from journalists like Susan Wade of The Athletic, as well as NASCAR drivers including Thad Moffit and Corey Lajoie. Her favorite moment from NASCAR was witnessing Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. win the championship trophies. Outside the racetrack world, Neha immerses herself in the literary world, exploring both fiction and non-fiction.

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