As the sun set on Sunday, the scenery at the Phoenix Raceway reeked of heartbreak, disappointment, and frustration. As Hendrick Motorsports driver Kyle Larson stood atop his No. 5 Chevy with his kids to celebrate his second NASCAR championship, Denny Hamlin of Joe Gibbs Racing held back his emotions as he walked back to his crew after the title slipped from his fingers.
Larson’s winning the championship once again sparked the old debate about the NASCAR playoffs format, and for good reason. While almost everyone in the NASCAR community dissed the current playoffs, journalist Jordan Bianchi was one of the select few who saw a silver lining in the system and defended it.
What Happened Yesterday In The NASCAR Finale At Phoenix?
At Phoenix, Hamlin arguably did everything that a race car driver can do to maximize his odds of winning. After a ton of homework, when it came to executing it, Hamlin and his No. 11 team left nothing behind while going for the championship.
Starting from the pole, Hamlin was a dominant force in the contest throughout. Even with his clutch setback, the 44-year-old quickly bounced back and found a way to work around it. While he fell a bit short of the first Stage win and finished third, he reclaimed his lead in the second Stage and cruised through the victory lane with a healthy margin over Ryan Blaney and William Byron.
In the final Stage, too, Hamlin showed unwavering courage while leading the pack at Phoenix and getting closer to the championship with every lap. In what seemed to be the final green flag run of the race, Hamlin was just 3 miles away from his maiden championship and was praying against a caution.
ALSO READ: Denny Hamlin’s Painful Defeat Should Be the Final Nail in NASCAR’s Playoff Coffin
However, his prayers went unanswered when a last-minute caution and a four-tire change in the pit lane put Hamlin behind in the lap traffic. With two laps to go in the overtime restart, Larson charged forward while the No. 11 Toyota was unable to catch up, and a ‘numb’ Hamlin saw his well-deserved title slipping from his hands.
Jordan Bianchi And Jeff Gluck’s Playoffs Debate
After the contest, motorsports journalists Jeff Gluck and Bianchi broke down the events at Phoenix, and the duo even discussed the NASCAR playoffs. While Gluck leaned fairly strongly against the playoffs, Bianchi was still in favor of them and had his reasons for it.
Though the journalist was on board with the idea of having multiple deciding races instead of a one-race finale, he still wanted NASCAR to retain a chunk of the playoffs and not eliminate them altogether.
When Gluck questioned Bianchi’s claim of “There needs to be a playoff format of some degree in the NASCAR Cup series,” the motorsports journalist got too real with his response.
He began, “It is more entertaining. It is better storylines. It produces the kind of racing you want to see at this time of year.”
Who Called The Old NASCAR Playoffs Format Awful?
While highlighting the heightened drama and intensity that the playoffs bring, Bianchi recalled having a conversation with a long-time NASCAR reporter who shared his perspective about the season-long championship, and called it “awful.”
The veteran NASCAR reporter told Bianchi, “You don’t know what it was like to write about the sport, cover it, and to be involved on a day-to-day basis when it had a season-long long championship. It was awful. It was boring. The sport lacked storylines and many, many times the championship was decided well in advance.”
Despite Bianchi’s arguments, Gluck was far from convinced and stood still in his anti-playoffs stance. Now, while Bianchi’s explanations about the playoffs’ existence seem reasonable from a journalist and business runner’s perspective, from most drivers’ and fans’ perspectives, it is far from a fair system, especially after what happened with Hamlin yesterday.