Recently, quite a few fans showed their displeasure with NASCAR’s qualifying metric. However, Denny Hamlin pushed back against the growing criticism of the same, arguing that fans are blaming the system rather than accepting that the qualifying order should reward performance over luck.
Monday morning, an online debate began after Kelley Crandall of RACER pushed back on NASCAR’s current qualifying formula on X account. She argued that while the system may have made sense during the COVID era, it has now “outlived its usefulness.”
In her view, a driver’s poor finish in one race should not create a snowball effect that hurts them again the following weekend by forcing them to qualify in less favorable conditions. She believed drivers should begin each race weekend with a fresh opportunity, whether through a random draw or another independent method, and not carry over disadvantages from previous races.
Crandall isn’t the only one who feels this way, as many fans agreed with her, adding that they miss the days of random draw qualifying.
Responding directly to this sentiment, Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin, typically known for taking opposition to NASCAR, argued that the qualifying metric is doing exactly what it was designed to do. It rewards teams that consistently perform well while penalizing those that consistently perform poorly.
Hamlin suggested that critics were being influenced by “excuse makers,” implying that teams and fans were blaming the system instead of acknowledging poor performance.
The JGR driver also pointed out that this past weekend’s race at Pocono actually proved the opposite of what critics were claiming. According to him, the drivers who qualified mid-order enjoyed the biggest advantage because track temperatures were at their most favorable.
Those who qualified toward the end, including himself, actually faced worse conditions. When a fan proposed bringing back random qualifying draws, Hamlin challenged the idea, stating that randomness has no place in professional sports.
Later on Monday afternoon, Hamlin continued this discussion on his podcast, Actions Detrimental, where he explained why he thought much of the online criticism ignored how qualifying actually works.
Funny enough, he also admitted that the qualifying metric actually hurt him during the most recent race weekend. Because his previous results placed him later in the qualifying order, he had to run near the end of the session when track temperatures had risen significantly.
His co-host, Jared, pointed out that this seemed to contradict Hamlin’s social media defense, but Hamlin insisted it actually proved his point. The system didn’t always benefit front-runners; at Pocono, it disadvantaged him.
He further expanded his point, saying that the first handful of cars to qualify usually face a disadvantage because the track still contains leftover race rubber from practice.
“The rubber that’s has laid from that practice session on the racetrack, it is sitting there, and those tires when they start to get a little bit of heat in them will start to pick up the race rubber from practice.” — Denny Hamlin
He believes the qualifying order should function much like playoff seeding in other sports, where teams earn favorable positions through their results instead of receiving them by chance.
While acknowledging that no system is perfect, he argued that a merit-based qualifying metric remains far more consistent and fair than introducing randomness into a championship battle, rewarding drivers and teams who have demonstrated sustained performance throughout the season rather than resetting the playing field every single weekend.
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