NASCAR’s Playoff Format debate is heating up again after Joey Logano, who won his third Cup title in Phoenix, revealed the role Denny Hamlin played in developing the current elimination-style system. Speaking after clinching the 2024 championship, Logano said Hamlin was someone who advocated for its creation nearly a decade ago.
Denny Hamlin’s Contradiction?
Hamlin had been critical of the playoff format in the days before the Championship Race. Hamlin’s public rant recorded before the season finale on the Actions Detrimental podcast, where he talks about possibly a ‘wrath on social media’ should Logano win the 2024 title, showed he was sick of it.
Denny Hamlin asserts the NASCAR playoff format is “delegitimizing the regular season”.
The Joe Gibbs driver warned that there may be a backlash if Logano won the title, criticized the fickle nature of the system that rewards only certain Playoff performances and not other, more consistent ones. He pointed to examples like Kevin Harvick’s 2020 campaign — one of the greatest seasons we’ve seen from a driver, only to see the championship slip away despite dominating the season.
However, what Logano said introduces a twist to the recent frustrations that Denny Hamlin has expressed about the playoff system.
“If I remember correctly, and I’m 90 percent sure, I was in the meetings when all this was being hashed out,” Logano said on Dirty Mo Media. “Denny Hamlin was one of the people in that room. For sure, and I’m not 100 percent sure, but I think this was his idea or he was definitely for it.”
Joey Logano remembers a particular driver being a big fan of the playoff format when it was first discussed. 👀 pic.twitter.com/f9MvZXDZgH
Since its creation in 2014, the Playoff Format replaced the simpler 10-race Chase format which NASCAR had in place. A new system brought three round of eliminations, finished by the winner-take-all finale. Cumulative points are discarded for automatic advancement based on race victories, focusing instead on high stakes performances.
“This is the eleventh year, and now we’re complaining about it? Like come on, the first time we did it, this was great everyone loved it, right?” said the 2024 Champion.
In a system that Logano has thrived in, winning three titles (2018, 2022, and 2024), drivers like Hamlin have not been able to turn strong performances into titles. And it’s a system that rewards drivers who can take full advantage of clutch moments. Such as the one the Team Penske driver found himself in Sunday at Las Vegas to clinch a Championship 4 spot.
“It just makes incredible story lines all the way through. And everyone has the same opportunity,” said Logano. “Is there tweaks that you can make? Maybe.”
Logano, who has mastered the playoff structure, defended its fairness and emphasized its decade-long presence. “Everyone knows the rules when the season starts,” Logano said after the Phoenix finale. “We figured out how to make the most of them, and it’s led to success for Team Penske.” He dismissed criticisms of the format as unfair or unearned, calling such claims “a bunch of bull****”.
A Broader Debate
Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin signal at each other during the Daytona 500 via NASCAR YouTubeCredit: C/O
The backstage of Hamlin’s pre-race critiques and Logano’s post-title remarks only amplify the divide between the sport’s playoff format. Hamlin knocked NASCAR’s playoff system and its politics as a source of perpetuating controversies like the one at Martinsville.
A key moment in the race was when NASCAR made what some saw as a controversial judgment call eliminating Christopher Bell after his contact with the wall. NASCAR ruled it intentional, allowing William Byron to move forward rather than consider Bell’s explanation, which suggested an accidental overdrive.
Such rulings, critics say, upset meritocracy and widen concerns about race manipulation. Because of its specific organization based on successive elimination stages, the format promotes strategic maneuvers that challenge traditional attitudes to racing.
The system has produced dramatic finishes, but the push to meritocracy versus entertainment persists. But NASCAR officials confirmed the playoff format will be maintained, with possible tweaks to its structure for the future.
