Denny Hamlin is sitting on cloud nine. Despite finishing 26th at Sonoma, Hamlin sits at the top of the standings. It's all thanks to the Chase, and Hamlin isn't afraid of appreciating the format.

Speaking on the Actions Detrimental with Denny Hamlin, the JGR driver broke down just how important changing the championship format was.

"Getting rid of the win and you're in just maybe the biggest, best change ever. Because now we know someone can’t just get lucky and pop one off from 24th in points."

Before this year, the format laid emphasis on the "win, and you’re in" format. It rewarded one-off performances rather than a consistent, season-long effort. However, that changed coming into the season, as now, after 26 regular-season races, only the top 16 drivers will head into the chase playoffs.

"You got 26 races to prove yourself, right? And so one good or bad week should not be the indicator of whether you’re in or out. No, you got a big ol’ sample size," he added.

That's exactly what happened to Hamlin. At Sonoma, an unfortunate incident while Hamlin was in seventh place put him at the back of the grid. He could only manage a 26th-place finish. However, his performance across the season saved him.

With four wins, nine top-5s, and eleven top-10s, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver currently leads the Cup Series championship with 1 point over Tyler Reddick in second.

“Somebody from 30th is not gonna just get in and take your spot. You’ve been running 16th for 25 weeks and then on the 26th week, somebody from 30th in points just knocks you out. That doesn’t seem fair to me.” 

Similarly, that change in format makes it less punishing for drivers if they've been performing well throughout the season, and had an off-day as Hamlin did in Sonoma.

Denny Hamlin opens up about his incident at Sonoma

Although the Joe Gibbs Racing driver came out of the Save Mart 350 with a points lead in the Cup Series drivers' championship, his bid for the In-Season Challenge almost came to an end. 

The five-race In-Season Challenge began at Sonoma, with Hamlin going head-to-head with Ty Dillon in the opening round of the 32-driver bracket for a chance to win $1 million. However, during lap 64, Carson Hocevar spun him around, which sent Hamlin tumbling down the grid.

While he did not comment about the incident post-race, he spoke about the same in the aforementioned podcast, during which he addressed whether it was Hocevar’s fault. 

"I think that it’s always very easy to blame the car directly behind you, and yes, Carson could have done a better job. But I don’t think that he came into the corner with reckless abandonment. . . Usually, you can tell intent through data, right? You can’t say, ‘I didn’t mean to hook him’ when your steering wheel turns towards them, right? It usually doesn’t lie, but it’s just too messy; all of them had somewhat of a role in that."

Despite the incident, Denny Hamlin managed to stay in contention for the challenge after Ty Dillon ended the race in 35th.

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Written by

Chionia Libania Colaco

Edited by

Siddharth Shirwadkar