Denny Hamlin expresses disappointment in NASCAR not changing playoff format for 2025

Denny Hamlin represented a vocal group for fans, drivers and media pundits alike by expressing disappointment for NASCAR deciding against change to their playoff format in 2025.

The 16-driver, four-round format has received a lot of criticism over the past couple of years. It was exasperated this past season, when Joey Logano won his third championship and caused an uproar. Despite winning the second most races on the season, Logano was seen as illegitimate by some, due to his slow start to the season, and advancing throughout the playoffs via timely victories, not accumulation of points.

Many felt that a slight tweak to the playoffs was warranted for 2026, to better crown a champion for America’s most popular form of motorsports. However, NASCAR announced it’ll keep the playoff format the same for this season, and a group is being put together to possibly make changes for the 2026 season.

Even though Hamlin recognizes change is eventually coming for NASCAR, he was hoping the playoff adjustments would be more immediate, as he explained during the latest episode of his Actions Detrimental podcast. 

“I was a little disappointed in that, but I guess I understand it,” Hamlin stated. “They’d rather just — if they’re going to do something, make a real change. Then, make it when they have more time or input. Obviously, their off-season probably was really filled with trying to deal with all these other rule changes. I mean, when they came out with this plethora of rule changes on this one specific day, I mean, they didn’t just dream it up that week, right? They’ve been working on this for some time.

“More than likely, they want to spend this season really diving into, ‘What do we change for the 2026 playoffs?’ And I am confident they will change something for the 2026 playoffs.”

Perhaps waiting a year will allow NASCAR to make a more sizable change to their system. The win-and-advance and single-race championship round has started to grow weary with the fanbase, as some long for the days of the Winston Cup. There were minor wins in viewership numbers and other stats for NASCAR in 2024, but it’s evident there are improvements possible. 

Time will tell what NASCAR’s decision makers decide, but Denny Hamlin is hoping he’ll still be competing for championships when the adjustments go into place. 2025 seems to be the last season with this current playoff format though, so hopefully this campaign is a solid send off. 

— On3’s Jonathan Howard contributed to this article.