NASCAR insiders debate necessity of keeping playoff format after Denny Hamlin heartbreak

Denny Hamlin suffered a heartbreaking loss at the NASCAR Cup Series Championship race, and two insiders have a lot to say about the playoff format it. On The Teardown podcast, Jeff Gluck and Jordan Bianchi of The Athletic weighed in on NASCAR’s current playoff format and whether it needs to change.

“Whether it’s a playoff format, a one-race playoff format, a Chase format, even a season-long format, there are going to be things in races that happen,” Bianchi said. “Today wasn’t anything unusual. We see this all the time in NASCAR, where something will happen at the end of a race, a driver who’s dominated ends up getting shuffled back.”

Bianchi was talking about Denny Hamlin losing the lead at the end of the race due to a late caution. That led to fellow Championship 4 driver Kyle Larson finishing three spots ahead of Hamlin to win the Cup Series title.

Gluck responded by saying what happened on Sunday is exactly why NASCAR needs to have a “bigger sample size” to determine a champion. Bianchi agrees not having just one race to determine a champion, but he beleives there needs to be a playoff format.

Will NASCAR change the playoff format?

“The playoffs as a whole need to stay,” Bianchi said. “To go back to the old 36-race format, I disagree with that. There needs to be a playoff format of some degree of some level in the NASCAR Cup Series.”

Gluck then asked Bianchi why NASCAR needs a playoff format, and Bianchi said it’s “entertaining” and creates an “interest level” in the sport, among other reasons.

“I’d rather have it decided 10 weeks in advance than go through what we’ve gone through the last couple of days where you see how the championship is decided, and you go, ‘I don’t feel so good about that,'” Gluck said when Bianchi mentioned how NASCAR championships can be decided without a playoff format. “…When I’m looking on social media, and I’m seeing even Larson fans go, ‘Man, that doesn’t feel good to me.’ NASCSAR needs a format, whatever it is, where everybody comes to the end of the season and go, ‘Well, that person deserved it.’ That’s the most important thing.”

It looks like the playoff format is changing, but it’s not clear what changes will be made. In the meantime, Larson will celebrate his win, and the other drivers will rest up until the 2026 season begins in February.