Denny Hamlin Explains Why He Wants Expanded Championship Round

Driver-owner Denny Hamlin turned some heads when he said that the championship round of the Cup Series playoffs should feature three races instead of one. Now he has provided more comments while highlighting past struggles at Phoenix Raceway.

Hamlin met with the media members in Nashville ahead of the NASCAR Awards. He provided several comments about the current playoff format and how it differs greatly from those used in the NBA and MLB. He then told a personal story about one of his near-miss Cup Series seasons.

“I think Dale Jr. covered it perfectly. Should one season, come down to this three-hour window?” Hamlin asked. “Listen all of the champions have been worthy, nonetheless, and I’m the last person that should comment on this because I’ve never won one and I’ll just sound like some bitter a****** that never won one.

“But I just I’m telling you — from a pure standpoint — it needs to have a bigger sample size. Because I can tell you this for a fact, my mom knew I wasn’t going to win that championship in 2020 because she flew on a flight with Coy [Gibbs] and he says, ‘Yeah, we have no chance. Our cars just aren’t good on these types of racetracks. So we have zero shot.’ And so she’s like, ‘Oh, well, that stinks.’ And I knew we weren’t gonna win. We just didn’t have the speed that the other guys had.”

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Hamlin Missed the Final 4 After a Standout Performance

The veteran Cup Series driver was one of the championship favorites entering the season. He had been in the final four for three consecutive years, and he had 46 career wins.

Hamlin struggled early in the 2022 season with finishes outside of the top 20, but he won two races to get himself back in the playoffs. Once the final 10-race stretch began, he started rattling off top-10 finishes. This includes back-to-back runner-ups at Darlington Raceway and Kansas Speedway.

Hamlin ultimately missed out on the championship four through no fault of his own. He had passed enough drivers at Martinsville Speedway to put himself above the cutline, but Ross Chastain eliminated him by riding the wall and passing five cars before crossing the finish line.

“I look at the average finish of the playoffs guys. Like I was s*** all year,” Hamlin continued. “And then when it came to the playoffs, we had like a six-point-something average finish, and I was like, ‘Dang.’ And we didn’t make the final four with such a great playoff run, probably the best playoff run in 10 races I’ve ever had. So it’s just… This is the format that we’ve got.”

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Hamlin Said That the Fans Would Still Tune In

The current playoff format is supposed to create “Game 7” moments where drivers will do whatever it takes to take the checkered flag first and win an all-important race. It has worked in the past at tracks such as Martinsville Speedway or the Charlotte Roval, but the championship race has told a different story.

Would going to a three-race series instead of one event cause a dip in ratings? Hamlin doesn’t believe that this would be the case. He said that there wouldn’t be anyone that would win the first two races and lock up the trophy, so the fans would still have to watch the season finale.

Hamlin also pointed out how the championship-eligible drivers still race against the entire field. There are 36 cars on the track, but only four of them can win the trophy. Though the 32 cars can still throw a wrench in the proverbial works by bringing out a late caution that reshuffles the lineup.

“We saw in 2021 — I think in 21 — the championship was won on pit road,” Hamlin said. “Is it really… Like, it’s got to come down to a pit stop? I just don’t know about that. I just feel like if you have this strung out over a three-race series, like Dale’s mentioned — and I’ll make sure everyone [is] saying this is Dale’s idea. I think that it just doesn’t come down to who’s just got the best pit crew. This is just… you’ll have more legitimacy.”

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