As a premier motorsport series in the United States, NASCAR is obligated to innovate. Naturally, they have to try new things to keep the fans’ attention and interest fixed on them. In a recent episode of Actions Detrimental, Denny Hamlin weighed in on the situation and offered his suggestion.
Denny Hamlin has an interesting plan to benefit NASCAR and its drivers
The Joe Gibbs Racing star pitched a five-week mid-summer tournament featuring the top 32 drivers. Meanwhile, the prize would be a cool $3 million, and this would make things much more fun for everyone. Had this plan been in place last year, we could have seen Hendrick Motorsports star, Chase Elliott add, $3 million to his bank. As per Hamlin’s design, the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series Champion would have faced Ty Dillon to possibly get an easy victory.
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Moreover, as per Hamlin, it would also help solve the low ratings issues that have been plaguing the sport recently. In essence, Hamlin was suggesting that an event like this could encourage betting on races.
How can betting be beneficial for NASCAR?
Hamlin also wrote on Twitter, “NASCAR offers 50M to anyone with a perfect bracket (insure it). Casual fans would be all over it. Sports bettors are bored in the summer with nothing but MLB to bet on. Would create so much chatter and content”.
.@NASCAR offers 50M to anyone with a perfect bracket (insure it). Casual fans would be all over it. Sports bettors are bored in the summer with nothing but MLB to bet on.
Would create so much chatter and content. https://t.co/TdjCQz5TBA— Denny Hamlin (@dennyhamlin) April 25, 2023
Quite recently, NASCAR announced a partnership with a daily fantasy operator, ‘PrizePicks’. This was only made possible on the back of a 400% jump in betting wagers related to NASCAR over the past year.
Hamlin explained the format for his proposed tournament
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The #11 driver declared that drivers would have 10 weeks to place in the top 32 in points. Then, for the next five weeks, they all go head-to-head and are seeded as per their points positions. The number 1 seed would face off against the number 32 seed, number 2 will face number 31, and so on and so. Whoever wins, would move on to the next week, which hosts the round of 16. After another round of head-to-heads for that week, the field will be whittled down to eight, then four, and then two.
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32 drivers.
5 week mid summer tournament.
3M to win.How many upsets would we have in week 1 alone?? https://t.co/t3yxvzwTdN
— Denny Hamlin (@dennyhamlin) April 25, 2023
Hamlin predicted that from a driver’s perspective, they would be very competitive for this. From a team’s standpoint, the strategies would evolve in the middle of the race. In his tweet, Denny Hamlin admitted that this format could potentially witness a few upset victories.
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For now, though, NASCAR just seems content with the current format of a regular season. That would be followed by a Playoff for the Cup Series championship.