Let’s rewind to 2023 for a moment, just a normal day with just a normal podcast with Denny Hamlin on the Dale Earnhardt Jr’s Dirty Mo Media Podcast channel. As the podcast went along, the million-dollar question that changed the whole format of NASCAR came along. Amidst NASCAR’s conquest to increase its TV ratings, Hamlin seeded an idea about a tournament that would run parallel to the points battle.

“So the number one seed is whoever’s first in points, they will be going up against the 32nd Place guy in points this week, so on so forth second we’ll play 31 we’ll go against the second seed, third will go against 30.” The podcast host witnessed a master in his craft as he went on explaining. This, in theory, was the birth of NASCAR’s In-Season Challenge that was going to spice things up in the mid-season stretch. Hamlin was the top seed entering that five-run stretch, but he got knocked out in the very first round in Atlanta.

Despite his early exit, Hamlin was happy with how NASCAR implemented the challenge and how well it was received by the racing community. Just imagine a 32nd-place Ty Dillon clinching the $1 million at Brickyard. But the JGR driver had one suggestion for NASCAR’s top brass that might refine this mini-tournament for good.

Hamlin wants NASCAR to have a better track selection

Reflecting on the recent Dover press conference, Hamlin noted one in-season management decision he’d change if he was in charge of the mini-tournament.

“I think the only, you know, if I were in charge, right, it’s just tweaking the tracks that it is, I mean, even your finale next week, you’re not going to have a side-by-side battle of your head-to-head guys.” Denny Hamlin felt drivers didn’t have enough opportunities to prepare for the driver vs. driver battle. The Atlanta race saw a superspeedway configuration track saw all major contenders bow out of the challenge thanks to a big one. Then came a road course and a street course race. Only Dover is a traditional oval track that stands as an exception.

“So, it’s just refine kind of your schedule around if you keep it, make sure you’ve got these five tracks that, you know, could create a compelling thing to watch on TV. because even if you have someone who’s you know, next week, your top two guys are running eighth to 10th, they might as well be a full track apart.” Hamlin’s preference leans towards intermediate tracks like Homestead-Miami and Kansas Speedway; their 1.5-mile configuration allows for more competitive racing with smaller time differences between laps compared to super speedways. He explains that the current choice of tracks deviates from the very purpose of the idea.

Interestingly, all four semi-finalists, Ty Gibbs, Ty Dillon, Tyler Reddick and John Hunter Nemechek have not won a single race this season. But none of that matters in the In-Season challenge, and one of them could script a Cinderella story at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

The battle of Tys for the $1 million payout

As Hamlin clinched his fourth win of the season, the Dover race also delivered final two contenders for the million-dollar prize at the Brickyard. Ty Dillon managed to get past John Hunter Nemechek after getting lucky with a late race caution and being the Lucky Dog. His 20th-place finish was enough to see him through to the final round, whereas Ty Gibbs bagged a fifth-place finish over his direct rival, Tyler Reddick, who finished 12th.

“It feels good. You know, I have been the underdog for a long time now, just battling my way to try to get opportunity. Eventually you get comfortable in fighting from behind and people underestimating you… We haven’t been a dominating car, but we have been a pain to everyone around us. That is all we can do — put pressure on them and execute at the right time and that is what we have done,” Dillon said after the race.

Dillon even riled up Hamlin during the race in trying to keep himself afloat in the In-Season challenge. And it shows that come Indy, he will give his all to win that million dollars. Meanwhile, Ty Gibbs might be focused on the bigger picture about making it to the playoffs.