NASCAR Confirms No New Playoff Format in 2025
What’s Happening? After months of speculation, NASCAR has confirmed there will be no changes to its Playoff Format for the 2025…
On this week’s episode of Actions Detrimental, Denny Hamlin claims he heard a “dirty rumor” that NASCAR is looking at a five driver championship race. This is the first indication that this could happen, and while there is no confirmation that this will happen, the source of the rumor is sparking a dialogue.
Since its introduction, and to the surprise of nobody, Denny Hamlin has used his Dirty Mo Media podcast Actions Detrimental to voice his opinion on the sport. With the season set to kick off this weekend, it wouldn’t be racing season without Actions Detrimental being a part of the NASCAR news cycle.
However, Hamlin and company are getting an early jump on the controversy this season with Monday’s pre-Daytona 500 episode. During a hearty Playoff discussion, Hamlin stated:
“I heard a dirty rumor someone from NASCAR said it… that… you know, maybe we expand the championship race to five drivers. Like, no…. you’re going the wrong direction. Please don’t do that. You’re just watering this down more. Stop making it easier. Make it harder.” — Denny Hamlin, Actions Detrimental Feb. 10; 46:30
Last season, the debate over NASCAR’s current Playoff format raged from Martinsville and into the offseason following Joey Logano’s improbable championship win. Fans have clamored for a new format or, at the least, significant changes to the current one.
This controversy led to multiple reports that NASCAR would review the system in 2025 and consider making changes to the playoff in the long term.
Hamlin’s comments refer to the “Championship Five” idea as a suggestion from someone at NASCAR rather than an actual change NASCAR would make. However, even if NASCAR does not go this route, the idea that someone at NASCAR suggesting they add a fifth driver to the final round may be concerning to fans.
One of the many complaints of fans about the playoff system is the case that Logano was statistically an undeserving champion. Logano won the title fairly under the system as he made the playoffs with a win at Nashville and made the Championship Four with a win at Las Vegas.
However, Logano had one of the worst regular seasons of any Champion in Playoff or Chase history. Prior to Alex Bowman’s post-race penalty at the Charlotte Roval, Logano was even eliminated from the playoff after the Round of 12.
Fans have suggested several ways to fix the playoffs since Phoenix. These include inverting the format (with a single race in the first round), removing the “win and in,” or reverting the system to past formats such as the Latford System or Chase for the Cup.
So, suppose what Hamlin said is true, and someone at NASCAR has suggested a five-driver championship race. In that case, someone at NASCAR might be viewing fans’ displeasure with the current system as a case of driver preference rather than a legitimate dislike for the format.
For example, rather than fans being upset about a driver with poor stats winning, someone at NASCAR might think that fans are upset that their favorite driver didn’t win. While Logano is an unpopular championship pick, there was tension already about the system entering the weekend.
What’s Happening? After months of speculation, NASCAR has confirmed there will be no changes to its Playoff Format for the 2025…
Returning to Action’s Detrimental, following a controversial finish to the Championship Four cutoff race at Martinsville, on the Nov. 4 episode, Hamlin claimed that a NASCAR employee told him that those online displeased with the playoff system are “bots.”
“I talked to Mike Forde a little bit last night, NASCAR comms. I said, ‘Man, I mean, you got this format getting hammered on the net.’ and he’s like, ‘it’s bots. It’s not real people.’ And so I said, okay, I mean, you can you can turn a blind eye if you want and you can be in denial. But numbers don’t lie, numbers never lie.” – Denny Hamlin, Actions Detrimental With Denny Hamlin, Nov. 4
Forde has since claimed that he sees fans’ displeasures and that his comments were not a “direct reference to NASCAR topics.” Either way, fans took this incident to heart, with an angry and slightly sarcastic outpouring online as some felt that NASCAR does not listen to thoughtful criticism.
Following this incident, it is easy to conclude that NASCAR could be ignoring fans and drivers by thinking that a fifth driver would fix things. The fact of the matter is, as Hamlin states, this is a “dirty rumor,” meaning that there is no real evidence that this is a real direction the sport could go.
What’s Happening? Since the controversial finish to the Round of Eight Playoff race at Martinsville, the debate over the quality of…
But, if this new rumor is evidence of anything, NASCAR’s playoff system will continue to be a major topic of controversy well into the 2025 season.
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