"You're watering down your superstars" - Denny Hamlin diagnoses major issue with NASCAR's current system

After Martinsville, Denny Hamlin opened up on his thoughts on the current playoff format in NASCAR. Following the final race of the Round of 8, drivers like Kyle Larson, who has the most wins this year, and Chase Elliott, who has the best average finish in the field this season, were eliminated.

Speaking on the latest episode of the "Actions Detrimental" podcast, Hamlin spoke about what he sees as major problems with the system and in NASCAR at large.

During a conversation between the JGR driver and his co-hosts, it was suggested that NASCAR isn't allowing the great drivers to shine, to which Hamlin resoundingly agreed, saying,

"Bam! Bam! And that is the biggest problem is that you're watering down your superstars. Even Steve Phelps did a podcast not long ago. I saw the quotes of it and even the host says, 'Yeah, Steve, parity while y'all may deem it as great, isn't that a negative because you're not letting your stars shine?' And he gave a long winded corporate answer. But that is true. It is watering down the superstars of our sport, no question about it. Absolutely, that is the gist of it" [39:20].

Denny Hamlin further added that if NASCAR could put a playbook together and pick the best four drivers based on ratings and similar factors, it wouldn't be the lineup of the Championship 4.

"It's the problem with parity. It's the problem with creating a format that allows 'win and you're in.' It just ignores all the poor performance that you had before that."

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Denny Hamlin unhappy about drivers like Kyle Larson missing NASCAR playoffs

Speaking about the playoff system in NASCAR, Denny Hamlin claimed that the standard for getting in has become lower and lower over the last few years. He said it was first 10 drivers, then 12, and now it is 16 that compete in the playoffs, to the point where it's simply now a "win and you're in" scenario.

Hamlin mentioned the example of Harrison Burton, who, by winning at Daytona, went from the 30s in points to 16th in a flash. The #11 driver added that there's something wrong with the playoff system, and hoped NASCAR would fix it.

He added that his problem with the system didn't stem from his elimination but from that of another driver in the field.

Hamlin said,

"I'm not talking about me. I don't think that we performed our best this playoff. Should we be part of the final four? By the statistics? Probably. But I would argue we didn't have it this year. It's more the Kyle Larsons of the world that you win the most races, you lead in every category, the most dominant car most weeks and yet, you're out."

He added that the NASCAR playoff system bugs him simply because it doesn't reward greatness.