Denny Hamlin roasts NASCAR decision to hold first round of In-Season Tournament at Atlanta

Round 1 of the inaugural NASCAR In-Season Tournament at EchoPark Speedway in Atlanta provided chaos. According to the seeding, there were eight upsets — that doesn’t even include the higher seeded Ryan Preece knocking off the points leader in William Byron.

Just one driver who has won a race this season — Chase Elliott, who took the checkered flag in Atlanta — is alive in the tournament. No. 1 overall seed Denny Hamlin was knocked out by No. 32 seed Ty Dillon. Hamlin gave Dillon his props, but at the same time, questioned NASCAR’s thinking in beginning the tournament at a superspeedway. Hamlin said on Monday’s “Actions Detrimental” podcast that he is concerned about fans maintaining interest in the tournament over the next four weeks.

“This is the unpredictability of putting us on a speedway race. It’s why I’m so against it being in the playoffs, it’s why I’m so against it being the start of our bracket,” Hamlin said. “They knocked out seven of the top eight guys in points. How about this — there are no winners except for Chase Elliott left in the bracket. Zero winners. … I think it’s probably not a good strategy to knock out all your top guys because not only that — think about NCAA — when your bracket is absolutely smashed after Round 1, do you really care about Round 2, 3, 4, 5? No. So, you’re going to be less interested in the second round, third round because your bracket is already trashed.

“… This isn’t WWE, so, you can’t just write a script. But, I’m saying, like, it’s probably not a good idea next year to start this thing at Atlanta Motor Speedway.”

Atlanta wipes out NASCAR In-Season Challenge favorites

When filling out a bracket, Hamlin, Byron, Kyle Larson and Christopher Bell were popular picks to win the $1 million prize. Along with Elliott, those four drivers had been the most consistent this season. All, however, were eliminated at Atlanta.

Superspeedway racing brings unpredictability — and the “Big One.” The Lap 69 Big One at Atlanta collected a track record 23 drivers, which immediately busted the brackets of many. NASCAR announced to no one’s surprise on Monday that zero brackets remain perfect.

Round 2 should be just as unpredictable as next up on the schedule is the Chicago Street Course. After that, a trip to Sonoma Raceway in Round 3.