Denny Hamlin delivers his “message” to NASCAR about the playoff system’s ‘worth’

Denny Hamlin passed his verdict regarding how NASCAR should roll with the playoff system. The knockout format attracted heightened scrutiny after Joey Logano's third NASCAR Cup Series title.

The 2024 season wrapped with Team Penske collecting a third consecutive Cup Series title. Logano exhibited a remarkable run, becoming the only full-time active driver with most championships. However, Logano's regular season ended poorly, and had he not won the Nashville Superspeedway race, he wouldn't have even made the playoffs.

Moreover, the #22 Ford driver showed lackluster displays in the penultimate 10-race slate. However, by dominating key playoff races -at the Atlanta Motor Speedway, the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and the Phoenix Raceway, Logano dethroned all championship hopefuls to rise above the rest.

The current format emphasizes race wins, guaranteeing automatic advancement into the next round. However, according to Denny Hamlin, the 26 regular season races are slowly losing their worth, as the 10 playoff races are the championship's battleground.

That being said, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver delivered his message to NASCAR, highlighting that the current situation where the champion had a poor regular season is not ideal.

“I think what we’re trying to get to and the message we’re trying to send is make the regular season matter more, right? Those 26 races, its proving to not be that substantial to winning a championship and that’s not something you want. So my message to NASCAR would be make the regular season worth more, not just the championship and the points you get, because right now, the last three years you would say, the champion didn’t have to do much in the regular season and that’s not good,” Hamlin said via Sportsnaut.

Logano won three races in the playoffs but had a solitary win in the regular season. His teammate and 2023 champion Ryan Blaney won three races last year but outperformed Kyle Larson, who had four wins, and William Byron with six wins. In 2022, Logano, who claimed the title, won four races of which only one came in the regular season.

When Denny Hamlin made the repercussions clear if Joey Logano won the 2024 title

After the Championship 4 roster was set with Joey Logano, Tyler Reddick, William Byron, and Ryan Blaney, Denny Hamlin expressed his concern about a possible backlash if Logano won. The JGR driver outlined, citing Larson's six wins, that the objective of the knockout format is to prioritize wins but the Team Penske driver acing the title would defeat the purpose.

A similar thing happened during the 2020 season. Kevin Harvick had nine wins in his arsenal, the most by any driver in 2020, but couldn't clinch the title, as Chase Elliott took the throne with five victories to his name.

Hamlin said if Logano would win the title over Larson, as the latter was already eliminated from the playoffs, there would be a severe backlash on social media.

"If Joey Logano wins this title, there is going to be a wrath on social media about this format. It already is. It's so interesting because Kyle Larson, you said in this season or when you decided this (format) that you want to put an emphasis on winning. He's won more races than anyone by a long way, and yet he is not part of the title fight," Hamlin said.

It's worth mentioning that if Alex Bowman's Charlotte win had been deemed legal, Logano's title fight would've been over then and there.