Some unexpected events transpired at NASCAR’s Cup race in Illinois. The race progressed with some strong leaders, including Christopher Bell. Leading a race-high 80 laps, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver seemed poised to grab his third season win. However, an engine failure surprised him and took away his sparkle with 19 laps to go. This is only one of the incidents that added flavor to Denny Hamlin’s challenge.

As NASCAR has a wide variety of sports betting options, Denny Hamlin came up with his own unique idea. It materialized at the World Wide Technology Raceway, albeit with strange occurrences.

Denny Hamlin stretches the purse

A year ago, JGR driver Denny Hamlin brainstormed a unique betting idea. Called the Bracket Challenge, fans vote for their favorite drivers in head-to-head matchups, resulting in a final showdown. The first round was at Enjoy Illinois 300, where correctly picking a match-up would have awarded 10 points. However, given the nerve-racking unpredictability, nobody could accurately pin down the drivers.

The underdog drivers rising was one intriguing factor of the race. In a mind-boggling turn of events, Austin Cindric emerged victorious after Bell faltered and Ryan Blaney ran out of gas. ‘Actions Detrimental’ co-host Jared Allen provided some insights: “Austin Cindric plays a role in busting a lot of brackets, actually busted all the brackets…submitted all 30. He eliminated Bubba…We had 31,000 brackets submitted, there’s no longer a perfect bracket after round 1.” 

This sheer chaotic jumble of a race prompted Denny Hamlin to bid a higher prize value. Drivers need more motivation to move mountains in the unpredictable sport, and Hamlin compared it to basketball. “NASCAR needs to offer $10 Million to a perfect bracket because it’s not gonna happen first…It is more difficult than the NCAA bracket, and NCAA has more teams…because of the unpredictability.”

Denny Hamlin further cemented his argument: “It’s attrition, and if this goes off of flat out speed in every track, it’s easy to handicap but it doesn’t go that way. I just said, 30% of your competition will eliminate itself.” He offered some shockers during the race when underdogs toppled the toppers. “There’s no way any bracket predictor can predict Austin Dillon over Truex. It’s just impossible. I mean, for God’s sake, thank god we finished second ’cause Justin Haley was seven spots away from eliminating me!”

This unpredictability stems largely from NASCAR’s innovation in 2022: the Next-Gen car.

The car is boggling sports betting

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Earlier, NASCAR drivers fine-tuned their cars themselves to extract the maximum output possible on race day. However, this is ancient history now, as the Next-Gen car completely defies this old practice. Composed of parts from single-source suppliers, the car gives parity and levels out the field. That is partially why we saw some unfamiliar names in the top ten- Austin Cindric, Austin Dillon, and Justin Haley. Race betters were consequently left dumbfounded.

In 2022, when the car was rolled out, we saw 19 different winners over 36 races. That included five first-timers and two drivers who earned their first shots at a championship. NASCAR president Steve Phelps compared this situation to the favoritism that played out in the past. “Before this year (and) the Next Gen car, you had to have a relationship with one of five race teams if you wanted to come into this sport. This car changed that.”

However, as we have seen, extreme parity also axes the racing product and fan entertainment. Denny Hamlin’s bid may motivate the drivers to work more and dominate the level field.