NASCAR Adds IN-SEASON Tournament! New Format Explained

NASCAR will add an in-season tournament to next year's schedule.
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0:00 Tournament
7:27 Power Rankings

[@eoincassin4265]

Something new for Denny to finish 2nd in!

[@austinthedino]

Underrated comment

[@justinpsychomonkeyjohnson2845]

Below the belt. Lol. Wonder if michael jordan is why nba did dennys tournament

[@gen-zeke-8571]

Denny not winning a Title will be on everybody's mind. I'm picking Denny because he's WAY due, and he won't give up. Great Plate Driver (Should have 6 500 wins, but 3 is no joke).

[@eoincassin4265]

@@justinpsychomonkeyjohnson2845 dont see how its below the belt...champions get a belt 🤣🤣🤣

[@justinpsychomonkeyjohnson2845]

@@eoincassin4265 lol

[@DennyDeliversYT]

nascar better give denny his percentage in royalties for his tournament idea lol

[@Itsgamingtime11-co5kp]

Yep

[@ThorneyGryffon]

They kissing his butt, because of the owner negotiations.

[@johnlafever3162]

Then Denny, who's a basketball fan, would have to pay royalties to the NBA, where he got the idea from. It's not an original idea. You do know MJ is his business partner for a reason, don't you?

[@IrvinAlvarado44]

@@johnlafever3162 NCAA march madness is the OG idea then NBA ish with in season then NASCAR.

[@seahawks2483]

If Denny's team doesn't survive he might have a job offer from NASCAR lol

[@RFK6-qi8eg]

I love this, imagine if they have fan brackets and stuff for prizes as well. I'd love to fill 'em out

[@EricEstepp]

I'm sure NASCAR and/or TNT will run some sort of contest

[@marcforget33]

@@EricEstepp I'm sure Vegas will as well

[@JackCallSports]

This is a great idea Throwback to the Winston No.5 Bull

[@codypet2110]

I immediately thought of the No Bull 5 too.

[@lucasesquivel2525]

So basically this is like in the NASCAR Thunder games when Sponsorship objectives were “Finish higher than Ward Burton”

[@otaviofrn_adv]

or higher than your teammate in other games...

[@ThandrieDavis]

When I saw the Prime and TNT deals, relatively short subdued in the middle of the season, it didn't really make sense. Now it does. This was almost certainly the plan from day one, and it's a smart move.

[@TheCloudCreation]

I think Jr deserves a lot of credit for this mid season tournament too. Last year, he absolutely loved Denny's bracket, and it can't be a coincidence that within a couple weeks of Jr announcing his move to Amazon/TNT, the network also announces the same bracket format Denny created, that Jr loved and took part in. Maybe I'm looking too much into it, but hopefully this is a sign that the new networks are listening and open to adjusting their broadcast based on popular demand.

[@betterdeadthanred839]

Hopefully, they don't, and they do go through with this.....and while at it, they should partway with playoffs format and go back to how it used to be....you know, back when Nascar was actually interesting...

[@R34Rules]

It sounds like JR is going to be a major voice of how Amazon/TNT will broadcast the races and he’s been going through Reddit for ideas from fans

[@kiingdylan1054]

not only has blaney been wrecked multiple times this season, it seems like everybody is forgetting he was 0.002 seconds away from winning atlanta.

[@rodpitcock6730]

So. That is a result of the track and restrictor plates. The whole field was half a second from winning.

[@irvingboy1122]

For those complaining at least give it a chance idk. I’d be totally down for something like this as long as it doesn’t truly impact the races and also it doesn’t look like another postseason format change and that’s another reason I’m ok with it

[@GamersHolyArmy]

You think NASCAR fans won't take any chance they get to throw a fit?

[@patrickhollis5332]

Yea but it’s complaining this is nascar not ncaaa you loose and go home so I’m guessing when your out you just tell your sponsors I’m done for the year its kinda everyone gets a trophy category hell why 32 just all are nothing it’s 38 and more trying to get it in when allowed and TNt use to do NASCAR all they are trying to do is not loose their ass on Amazon and HBO

[@dd-uj8jx]

​Nascar sucks especially Mike Joy

[@bonesdoes6142]

@@dd-uj8jxwtf you doing here then? Go away,we don’t want you or your opinion

[@brandondavis8790]

​​@@patrickhollis5332that's not how it works everybody on track is still competing you won't ever see a race with 16 cars then 8 then 4 and so on so get educated on this everybody is still competing on the track while only 1 driver takes the 1 million dollar prize

[@Itsgamingtime11-co5kp]

Denny basically invented the “in season tournament”? I knew it. He’s a good guy off track and has good ideas, on track he can get a little bold and brash but, still

[@hollygolden9673]

Really?

[@Glitchunlocked]

This isn't a new idea or "invention" even if Hamlin happened to propose this iteration of it.

[@optimalpowersimracing6625]

And Dale Earnhardt couldn't? Kyle Busch? Get over yourself 🤡

[@thomasratigan]

Bold and Brash, more like belongs in the trash

[@joshmuecke85]

​@@optimalpowersimracing6625dale, and kyle could at least win a championship

[@MidlifeCrisisManagement]

two words: online wagering 💰

[@patchgatsby9138]

Don't get me wrong, I like this, but the reason is gambling. NASCAR knows that, compared to other sports, not that high a percentage of the fans bet on races. Americans love to bet on brackets.

[@brevinthomas8242]

As someone who enjoyed the NBA in season tourney, its a cool idea. At least Nascsr doesnt have to worry about not counting races and other things. Worse that happens is it doesn't flow too well and you just knock it off.

[@brianstephenson8201]

It's finally a replacement for the Winston million or No Bull 5. Posted this before I finished the video when Eric mentioned it.

[@defjourney7634]

The chaos a round of 32 would be at a super speedway. Like the duels at Daytona, but with a majority of the field.

[@otaviofrn_adv]

like the duels when there were more drivers than starting spots for the race...

[@jacksonyon5276]

This could be cool. Some hype after the 600 where most people turn off until Daytona

[@MayBeSomething]

I think I like this new idea. I'm looking forward to it! A modern day Winston Million. I hope this goes extremely well! (You should bring back Out of the Crowd. Especially to get some reactions to this news.)

[@hrhagadorn]

My first thought to. The Winston Million was a big thing back in the 90s.

[@Sean_Downey]

Love the tournament idea, will see how it plays out.

[@KombatRacer]

The NBA mid season tournament was mocked by fans as well, until the numbers showed that it was a massive success and huge draw to the sport. Hope NASCAR reaps the same kind of benefits!

[@Not_a_Llama25]

The NBA's ratings are dropping thats why they did it lmao

[@mateojohns05]

@@Not_a_Llama25 nascars ratings have been terrible the last 10-15 years 😂 they've been needing to change something like this for a while

[@QTronBomb]

Nascar isn't the nba

[@Sehughes1985]

Kind of reminds me of the old Winston Million or the Dash 4 Cash in the Xfinity Series. Maybe in addition to the $1 million NASCAR should award five or 10 playoff points to the tournament winner.

[@Dupontman627]

This might be the new playoff format 🤔

[@HUSKERS_FAN_1]

its basically like the NCAA basketball tournament.... EVERYONE HAS A CHANCE!

[@nightmarewatcher24]

We going back to the sprint summer showdown with this one

[@arieannakarlik761]

I wish k Busch could’ve stayed consistent and stayed in the power rankings

[@rmg_2771]

I hope the winner of the tournament follows a brinks truck around the track with money flying out the back. Also not too worried about the first round being too much to follow. First round will basically have everyone’s favorite driver participating so mostly everyone will be following their driver’s matchup closely. Then after that, the 2nd round will be easier to follow on TV

[@thatpaintschemeguy8]

So its like a bigger dash for cash, sweet! This sounds really cool

[@kevinpratt8476]

Yeah, I wonder what Dale Junior thinks because he’s usually pretty smart about all of the stuff and he’s going to have some different viewpoints for sure

[@stephenholloway6893]

Plus he's going to be in the booth with both Amazon and TNT so he's probably going to be the only one per say that would keep an close eye on it far as who makes it and who would win the million dollars.

[@markc3456]

I actually wonder if this factored into him going over to Amazon/TNT from NBC?

[@kevinpratt8476]

@@markc3456 there might be something to do with that but I think he was looking for a new contract and NBC was not willing to give him what he was looking for not to mention the Xfinity program is going over to CW in 2025. It’s supposed to start actually later this year, which you probably already knew that but I think it had a large part to do with it besides Amazon probably threw tons of money at him. I just wish he would move up to the big leagues as far as NASCAR except not just Xfinity. I think you could dominate all three divisions to be perfectly honest, he’s got a good head on his shoulders and I would like to see him around for the next 20 to 30 years because he’s only gonna be 50 this year

[@otaviofrn_adv]

@@markc3456 might. But the man has a media company, pumps ton of content for himself... I think that was the biggest factor for a smaller race schedule on tv for him

[@DV1287]

awesome idea! Reminds me of the No Bull 5 event from Winston

[@TheAlmightyErnst]

Let’s talk about what this really does for NASCAR. It gives them 31 more betting opportunities. Plus whatever multitude of parlays, and exactas can make out of it.

[@troywilliams3613]

A driver can finish each race at 30th and win the tournament if each of their head to heads have DNFs. A driver can win 4 races in a row and then finish 2nd to their head to head in the final and lose the tournament. I understand the simple nature of the bracket, but in this kind of sport maybe they should do whoever earned the most points in those 5 races.

[@otaviofrn_adv]

on points you have many of the same problems, considering the points system. If someone has a month of four wins in a row like Harry Gant, he can lose the overall tournament due to a bad final race and the point difference being close together

[@jmh8622]

I say give it a chance. It might create some extra entertainment 🤔

[@Faven321]

When I was reading this on Twitter I had to make sure it wasn't April fool's day

[@OneOfTheFew542]

The battle to get in the top 32 is going to be great between the crappy teams

[@johnlafever3162]

What crappy teams? Rick Ware Racing, which is on the campus of RFK racing, finished 8th yesterday. Unless you are talking about part time teams that can't seem to get a handle on this car, Jimmie Johnson is making progress, while Legacy Motor Club is much better this year than last year. Ford, which has been struggling, has been climbing the leader board and had three cars in the top 5 yesterday, two being SHR cars that the rumor mill has all but shutting the doors for them.

[@Christoph5782]

@@johnlafever3162There are only 36 cars on the grid

[@RedneckJesus88]

@@johnlafever3162wood brothers still sucks lol

[@johnlafever3162]

@@RedneckJesus88 considering "the Woods Brothers" team is not just some random team with a technical alliance/information sharing agreement, they are a satellite team of Penske, not only getting their cars supplied by Penske, but prepped by Penske, along with pit crews trained and supplied by Penske, not to mention their crew chief is supplied by Penske. The third generation "Woods Brothers" that run it, handle the front office and marketing dept for the team. Performance wise you can look at it as the 4th Penske car of the organization.

[@TheSpreadCFB]

Reminds me of the Winston no bull and sprint summer showdown Heck I’m down for it could be a lot of fun

[@PredxMarvel]

In a way its like bringing back the race for the Winston Million back.

[@3103Juan]

I like it. It’s like the Winston event back in the day for the cup guys. Loved it.

[@chasebriscoefan14]

I’ll give it a chance before I complain

[@Kenboslice3]

Sound like the No Bull 5, million dollar bonus from the Winston Cup era. I like it!

[@thomasnichols7664]

I would say this is not Denny's idea he heard about it thru Dale Jr

[@bowlerboy247]

Let’s go nascar just implemented a million dollar bonus to wreck your direct opponent out of the race consistently let’s go

[@MitchCollins15]

The mid-season bracket is awesome

[@TankSlappr]

The moment there's any team manipulation you bet the complaints are going to start rolling in.

[@hollygolden9673]

And so easy to do.

[@InsaneCelery238]

Epic idea, thank you denny!!

[@stormix5755]

Denny's 1 lap lead keeps his streak of 17 races leading at least 1 lap alive.

[@outdoordinsmore]

I’m actually disappointed that the payout is only 1 million. Reminds me of the same conversation about the all star race purse never increasing. I hope the teams feel enough incentive to race hard for the tournament

[@jordanburns4041]

So this Tournament Bracket is like your Nascar Downhill Diecast racing that you did Eric 😎 Eric predicted this all along😂

[@dannyalex7152]

Love this idea!!

[@Calypsotheseagodess]

Thanks Denny!

[@speckscott]

This will be fun to watch! Anything that adds racing within the race is awesome!

[@TroyValley]

I think this is awesome on paper, we'll see how it works out in reality but I'm definitely excited for it.

[@johnchilds2413]

for fights hell yea

[@Cloudy341blade]

Nascar better give denny the credits and the props since he came up with this idea also corey heim is driving the 50 at Nashville

[@naparacingfan9275]

Thanks Denny for the tournament we didn't need. I'm hoping it doesn't overshadow the racing on the broadcast. I think it's a stupid idea and totally unnecessary. However, I'm willing to give it a chance.

[@pjartistics]

Stop trying to be the NBA or NFL. This is from Denny Hamlin? I don’t believe that at all. We didn’t ask for this. Listen to the fans. The fans want the racing how the racing was. Without stage racing and a horrible playoff format. Go back to the Winston Cup days!..

[@jamiethornton6101]

@@pjartistics you guys who keep crying about everything, can go watch F1

[@jonmabe254]

Great idea!

[@j.cbutterfly3293]

Hey Eric, how about Top 16 power rankings in NASCAR history before the playoffs starts in Fall.

[@jamesward3622]

Thanks for the video.

[@KyIeLarson]

I hope I speak for us all when I say we all wanted brad to win

[@Itsgamingtime11-co5kp]

Yes you are correct

[@ghost_tom_joad8530]

I for one couldn't be happier that Brad was the first Ford to win this season.

[@JmmMartin-lj5wo]

Nope not me. …….. well I guess it’s better than DH winning another.

[@michaelcrane2475]

This staunch Chevy fan was sad to see the 5 car not finish, I really thought he was headed for another win. But yes it was fantastic to see someone as deserving as Brad take the podium.

[@drumsofberk]

While I wanted a Ford to win I still don't like how Brad crashed Carl Edwards at Talladega. That Feud did not have to happen as it took some wins from Carl. If we can all agree that it was mature of Tyler Reddick to take full blame for wrecking Chris, Brad - on television - never apologized or took blame for the wrecking Carl. But I think Brad has matured quite a bit but I am now neutral on him

[@markc3456]

Since we are now comfortable crowning multiple champions in a season, can we also add a "full season tournament"? Give the winner 175 points, second place 170 on down to 43 points for finishing 40th. Heck, give 5 bonus points for leading a lap and the most laps. Who knows, it could be fun!

[@alexlambert2003]

I think the tournament challenge is also another great way to place sports bets. Betting on sports is really big rn especially with younger fans. So it could potentially draw in some eyeballs from that!

[@Carsboy95]

This sounds pretty cool! I’m excited for this, we’re definitely gonna see a favorite get eliminated after crashing in a race which will be crazy

[@androidken]

This is just another version of the Winston Millions.

[@daniel_schell_86]

i dig it glad they said it was for next year I'll be curious

[@iracingdriver9]

it wasn't just Denny's idea, also, the racing game youtuber GOWEN did it in his NASCAR Heat 5 career mode and in my opinion, and probably a lot of others, it was amazing

[@randyharbaugh7819]

When I first saw the headline my first question was how will they determine the winner, head to head winner or winner based upon total race points including stage points. They went with the much simpler and easier to follow format. The seeding process is also random, teammate vs teammate match ups until later rounds are not protected.

[@zyloproductions4870]

I love this idea!

[@SkullzGaming1818]

Great idea! Shoutout to Denny!

[@neildeal248]

This is going to add so much to the at times blah summer stretch! I can’t wait! It’s also so simple and easy to follow which is great

[@AlanSeaman]

Could be great! It's all in how they market it. I'm down for this. Just hope the word gets out

[@christiszkus7160]

Idea for the fans to keep track in the bracket: Since there is space on the front driver name strip, instead of the manufacturer on the passenger side, their competitor's number and a color strip. That way, you can visibly look at the front of a car and match the color strip and number

[@williambutcher4789]

This is gonna be a BLAST to watch! Great job trying something new, might get some different fans in the door. I'm a die-hard fan so it just adds to my enjoyment.

[@Vol4Life5]

Great idea honestly. There will be those who complain but honestly I think it'll be awesome! Basically the Winston Million but in bracket form,sign me up.

[@GamersHolyArmy]

My only real complaint is that it should've been 16 drivers or something like that, 32 is too many when there are only 36 drivers even eligible. I guess either they thought people would confuse it with the playoffs or Amazon wanted a piece of the pie as well so they had to extend it.

[@7170brothersracingteam]

We were wondered what stunt amazon was gonna pull and they are adding more incentive to make these guys race each other harder!

[@ThatNascarGuy]

I love this idea. And being single race eliminations it highlights the need to be consistent and avoid DNF’s in any way possible

[@salbiasillo9985]

My first thought was like the Winston million. Different but I like the concept. I still like looking at old school Winston points on the Iceburgs channel as well but I think it’s all about growing the sport

[@MozerinMozers]

This is dope.

[@timkis64]

i remember denny talking about this, & even dale jr.mentioned, it seemed like a good thing from what he knew of at that time.

[@dbrd5206]

Tournament final at the Brickyard, add some shine to the Crown Jewel and more history to Indy

[@Chacason]

Seems pretty cool

[@Weirzy69]

It would be cool for NASCAR to experiment with this a little. Instead of 5 consecutive races, they could do a random draw before the Daytona 500 to see what 5 races throughout the year are included in the tournament. That way it would more than likely be different every year.

[@otaviofrn_adv]

the idea is not bad, but there are two things: 1) this was done to increase summer audience, a historical struggle nascar has. 2) this was likely pitched by TNT to nascar, so they are kinda in the right to get the races and tournament style

[@Gav_Jam]

I like the idea but I do think this complicates things for new fans.

[@acemoneymaker8242]

My guess is tnt really pushed for it so their summer it's jsut racing

[@ChrisCroft77]

I agree trying to explain the playoffs to new NASCAR fans (SVG Fans form Aus & NZ) it hard and difficult to explain.

[@markmarciszewski6471]

I wonder if this also incentivizes any more open entries for those races, since it seems to be open to "all drivers." Would be really cool to see full 40 car fields in some of these races. I know open drivers would be a long shot to win the 1M, but its not unthinkable for a team to see 1M and try their hand. I'm thinking of RCR entering Hill, Kaulig entering SVG + Allmendinger, even 23XI with Corey Heim or Chandler Smith, Ford team entering Cole Custer, or even someone throwing Aric Almirola out (since he seems willing to race partial schedule).

[@bobaboey7073]

Hard to get my non-nascar friends to watch a whole season …but a in-season Tournament is a easy pitch and sale. I can get a few new people to watch. This is good stuff!

[@richardpowell4643]

If you want to be ahead of the curve you should be spending alought more time talking about Ty Gibbs and Noah Gregson. Not only are they the next 2 it drivers in Nascar but will go on to have long lasting careers and probably both be hall of famers in 20 plus years. If you know racing and pay attention at all this should be a no brainer.

[@fatheroffish101]

i think the in season tournament makes more sense than the playoff format, can't wait to see this next year!

[@bobbyscottphotography]

One on one (for the most part) heck yeah.. let's see some battles!! Kinda reminds me of the qualifying races for the Daytona 500 how we all watch the drivers who can make it or not. Now it's for a million!

[@R34Rules]

I think to get the most fan engagement possible they need to offer a fan portion of the bracket like March madness

[@calebc.7818]

I like the idea and think this will be fun. I foresee this scenario though at least once with any set of two drivers: "Hamlin and Larson get into the wall and crash!... They're both out of the race, but the consolation prize is that Larson moves on to the next round of the in-season tournament due to leading entering that lap ."

[@bruhfettywapper]

I kinda like this actually, but I have a vague feeling that nascar's gonna turn this into a new playoff format which would suck

[@JosephMicheal-eu5mc]

This playoff format is much better than what it used to be. That way a tournament like other sports it’s going to concert who’s gonna be the actual winner a great idea from Dani Hamlin

[@optimalpowersimracing6625]

there wouldn't be dry boring summer months if actually race mattered and there was just a regular championship where every race actually mattered in determining the champion

[@j.paulm.1575]

It's a gimmick, sure, but I'm looking forward to seeing this in practice.

[@Nick-cv5rm]

I think this is a better chance than the playoffs and stage racing. Mainly bc this doesn’t change anything. It just encourages drivers to always race hard without changing any format. More of this and less playoffs and stage cautions

[@BlueRazzleDazzle]

That Richmond win was NASCAR thanking Denny for this idea

[@ethanweeter2732]

More people probably expect Chase to maybe make the Final Four than Reddick though.

[@mattlincoln6845]

I've been wanting nascar to bring back a no bull 5 type thing for years. Glad nascar is doing this they should get fans involved and if their driver wins they get a million too like the no bull 5

[@DustinHasVideos]

I like this idea. However I know the first year will be terrible because it will take the entire broadcast over. They need to keep the discussion about it to less than half of the entire race.

[@seanguthrie2282]

i would love it wa tch all the races

[@jaronwelch8264]

Great idea, but If we being honest FOX had something like this 15 yrs. Ago. It was like a head to head fan vote between 2 drivers. So, I know denny remember that and added on to the concept