Denny Hamlin seemed to call out three-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Joey Logano in his first podcast since the 2025 title was cruelly ripped away from him.
Logano has frequently been talked down for the way he's won his three titles, with his 2024 championship in particular notable for having the lowest average finish of any champion (17.1, vs the next lowest of 15.2) in the single-race finale era, which started in 2014.
Speaking on his own terms since the Phoenix showdown on November 2nd, Hamlin namechecked five drivers along with himself who 'love' a one-race championship format, hinting that the rest of the field need the chaos to lift hardware at the end of the year.
He described the outgoing format as 'rewarding mediocrity', after a championship race which he dominated, only for a late caution brought out by rival William Byron to force overtime with just three laps to go, with Kyle Larson snatching the title on the restart.
Hamlin calls out NASCAR rivals
Starting to list his 'examples' for the larger sample size advocates, he said: “For people like myself, William Byron, Kyle Larson, Ryan Blaney, Tyler Reddick… I think we’re all for bigger sample sizes. If I didn’t list your name, of course you love a 1-race format."
He added: "It rewards mediocrity for a bulk of the season. You’ve never had one ripped out of your hands.
"You’ve taken out of people’s hands but you don’t know what it’s like to dominate a season when all of a sudden the format resets the score on you and you lose in overtime.
“Those are the people who were able to steal from others… Mediocre people want as small a sample size as possible. The greats want a larger size. There might be others, I want to be careful… Can’t forget Chase Elliott, he is one of the best grinding out throughout the season.”
