The 2025 NASCAR Cup is still in its infancy. The championship-deciding, season-ending race is over seven months away — on November 2 in Phoenix — but the conversation about the future of the current playoff format is already raging.
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The current four-round, 10-race playoff system culminates in a one-race winner-take-all championship contested by four finalists — the ‘Championship 4’ season finale. Denny Hamlin recently spoke to Barstool Sports about his lack of “love” for the format, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. resonated with the take, suggesting a viable alternative.
“I don’t love it,” Hamlin said bluntly. “The reason I don’t love it coming down to one race is that racing is a sport where luck is involved. … Luck is a very loose term that people use,” he added, talking about how a single-race shootout could turn out to be unfair because of the number of factors at play.
“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,” added Hamlin.
It’s not surprising that Hamlin does not like the 1 vs. 3 format to determine the season’s champion. He’s made the Championship 4 a total of six times and has never come closer than third. Hamlin’s angst could also be derived from the fact that the last time he reached the final round was in 2021.
He has a kindred spirit in Dale Jr., who readily gives his opinion on all things NASCAR, regardless of whether the sport’s leaders agree or disagree with him. And maybe it’s also not a surprise that, like Hamlin, Junior never won a Cup championship in his career.
And even worse than Hamlin, Earnhardt never even reached the final-four round (his highest season finish was fifth).
Earnhardt agreed with Hamlin’s take that NASCAR should consider shifting from a one-race deciding event for the championship to make it a best-of-three playoff battle for the top drivers. The racers would still be eligible points-wise in those final three playoff events.
Dale Jr.: No Superspeedways or Road Courses in 3-Race Finale
“I’m fine with Denny’s three-race idea,” Junior said on the Dale Jr. Download. “I don’t know that there’s a perfect three-race round for the championship, but I’d be hesitant to throw a Daytona or Talladega or Atlanta into it.”
The former Cup Series driver emphasized being hesitant to place superspeedways or even road courses, despite their rising popularity, in the mix.
“I just think that stock cars and short tracks and oval tracks and mile-and-a-halfs and Darlington’s and all those, that’s NASCAR to me, so I would want it to be three ovals,” he concluded.
However, regardless of the opinions from the fraternity, NASCAR has been adamant that the playoff format will remain the way it is for the time being.
