Weekly race analyses on ‘Actions Detrimental’ have turned Denny Hamlin into a brilliant statesman in the garage area. Holding 54 Cup wins, his voluminous experience on race tracks translates into immense race knowledge. Besides his field skills, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver also has a finger on the business pulse of the sports entertainment industry.

Hence, an idea that Denny Hamlin gave birth to a year ago is now on the executive cards of NASCAR’s upper echelons. But the sanctioning body’s leadership refrained from crediting our three-time Daytona winner, as fans grudgingly point out. Hamlin’s idea is indeed one to remember.

Denny Hamlin’s ingenuity spells wonders for ratings

The JGR star’s idea was mathematically crisp and wonderful. Last year, in April, Hamlin logged into his podcast as usual and pitched the idea of a single-elimination tournament. This would be played out in five Cup Series races. The top 32 drivers, via the points standings, get on the bracket for a five-week run. This “fix”, according to Denny Hamlin, would be “kicking ass in the ratings” during the summer months.

Sure enough, the NASCAR executives borrowed Hamlin’s brainchild in a year. According to Sportico, an in-season tournament would be introduced for 2025 based on Hamlin’s terms, except for the payout. Denny Hamlin suggested a $3 Million payout, while NASCAR is not willing to dole out more than a million.

But credits to Denny Hamlin are nowhere to be seen. Brian Herbst, Senior VP of media and productions, only mentioned the quaint “NASCAR industry”. “The idea of an in-season tournament has been discussed within the Nascar industry and as we started to focus on adding promotional elements that drive interest throughout the season, we were excited by the opportunity to leverage the marketing weight of Amazon and TNT Sports to bring this concept to life.”

Additionally, Sportico attributed the idea to the successful launch of the Emirates NBA Cup, a basketball in-season tournament. Also, NASCAR apparently floated the idea first during early media rights conversations last summer. Then the seven-year deals inked with media giants must have given it an extra push. Yet, fans are totally disappointed with NASCAR’s reluctance to hail Denny Hamlin and expect a handsome commission in his pocket soon.

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NASCAR fans ridicule higher-ups for ignoring Hamlin

Denny Hamlin is usually known for his badmouthing and unfiltered approach. Hence, fans usually do not fancy his endless rants. But sometimes pure gold streams from his mike, as he had suggested doing away with the one-race winner-take-all format recently. Now as his tournament idea reached fruition, one fan ecstatically commented: “THEY DOIN IT”.

Other fans called out NASCAR for clearly robbing Denny Hamlin’s credit for the idea. “Give @dennyhamlin the damn credit already @NASCAR”. Another fan pointed out the officials’ questionable behavior in hogging the spotlight. “🤣🤣🤣 NASCAR being shady lately.”

Many people rallied in support of a hefty commission purse which is owed to Denny Hamlin. “@dennyhamlin better get that finders fee for the idea 😂”. Another fan promptly responded with a suggested figure: “10% of the $1 million seems fair to me! lol”.

However, our man himself quoted a bigger price: the entire $1 million purse, as he hopes to win the tournament. Hamlin tweeted: “This is such a win for our sport and drivers. Many story lines will made during this 5 week period. I will collect my 1M royalty next season 😉.”

Hence, long story short, Denny Hamlin’s idea created ripples of success in NASCAR, and he is bound to cash in on that next year.