NASCAR has been searching for ways to increase its viewership ratings for a long time. It has explored multiple options from various perspectives to reach more viewers but to no avail. Addressing the same, Denny Hamlin suggested NASCAR implement a mid-season showdown akin to the NBA, earlier this year. Talking about the same recently on ‘The Dale Jr Download’ podcast, Denny revealed how there have been previous editions of similar bracket showdowns. But what’s surprising is Dale Earnhardt Jr seemed completely unaware of this tidbit.

Reiterating his opinion about such in-season initiatives, Denny Hamlin also revealed that he managed to earn $100,000 from a bracket in the past decade. While Dale Earnhardt Jr said that he was uninformed about such events happening in the past, he also conceded to the superiority to the No.11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota driver.

Dale Earnhardt Jr claims he was ‘not good enough’

In April 2023, Denny took a cue from the NBA’s approach to appeal to the masses with events throughout the year. The 43-year-old driver proposed that NASCAR host a mid-season tourney to attract more viewers and increase the TV revenue. Disclosing his proposition, he stated that the tournament would include 32 drivers going head-to-head over five weeks, and the winner would take home $3 million.

Many people are familiar with Denny’s intentions of including this event in the NASCAR calendar. However, while Dale Earnhardt Jr was aware of Hamlin’s idea, he just learned that Hamlin had previously won one such tourney. In the latest episode of Dale’s podcast, Hamlin spoke about how the tournament came into existence and how it landed him $100,000.

“Seventy-odd thousand people filled the bracket. It came from 15 years ago. DirecTV had a in-season bracket. Nobody really knew about it,“ claimed Denny. Dale Earnhardt Jr was surprised at this revelation and enquired further about the reasons for the competition’s lack of popularity. Hamlin answered, “Because they gave me $100,000.”

“You won it? You won the $100,000 bracket? The driver got a hundred grand?” asked Junior, curious about how Hamlin performed in the showdown. As Denny confirmed the prize money, the JR Motorsports owner was surprised to learn of the event in the 2010s.

Dale Earnhardt Jr is easily one of the most celebrated superstars of the past decade. However, on learning that Hamlin had won the showdown event, he sighed, “I wasn’t good enough.”

The competition would pit specific drivers against each other for five weeks, with the better-finishing driver advancing to the next round. As the event progressed, the final two drivers would battle it out for the prize money.

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Denny Hamlin is confident of the idea’s success

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NASCAR’s existing TV rights contract runs till 2025. While it has added new platforms like Prime Video to the fray, it only increases the scope for organizing a mid-season bracket showdown. As the new contract begins, NASCAR can begin the procedure to sell the broadcasting rights and more to the highest-bidding company for those five races.

In an earlier revelation on his podcast, Actions Detrimental, Denny Hamlin had said how he relayed his idea to some big names in the NASCAR community and it received a warm reception. With the new TV rights deal beginning in 2025, it is the perfect season for NASCAR to add the NBA March Madness-styled tourney to the schedule.

“I don’t know if it’s a money thing or not, but they could get somebody to sponsor this thing in two seconds and it could, they need to look at it sooner than later for sure, in my opinion,” said Denny Hamlin on his podcast.

“I think it’s a very good thing just simply from the social interaction of people, ‘Hey, we created our own bracket series. We’re taking the rules in which you set out and we’ve created our own contest.’ And so it was cool to see that, how much momentum it got, and how excited people were to think about this head to head.”

With the viewership ratings experiencing a decline, it could be fruitful for NASCAR to take a closer look at Denny’s plan. This doesn’t just incentivize the drivers to perform better but also retains viewers’ attention throughout the year.

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