Denny Hamlin dives into the business aspect of the 2025 playoffs calendar.
NASCAR primarily races on tracks owned or operated by themselves or Speedway Motorsports. These tracks have a financial advantage, so they prefer to host important races. However, there was a surprising decision regarding the 2025 Cup calendar and the tracks involved.
According to The Athletic, three tracks that currently have a playoff date on the 2025 calendar have been replaced. Two of these tracks belong to NASCAR, but when the replacement was announced, one of those dates went to Gateway operated by SMI or WWTR in St. Louis. Denny Hamlin, a veteran Cup driver for JGR, sees a strategic move in this decision.
During a discussion on his podcast, Hamlin pointed out that NASCAR may be planning to acquire the track. He believes that NASCAR wouldn’t assign such an important race date to an independent track without a valid reason, indicating that they may soon take over the track’s operations.
The focus of the discussion that arose after the reports was the loss of the race date for the iconic Homestead Miami track. However, Hamlin goes beyond that and explores the business side of the sport, leading him to his conclusion.
As a co-owner of 23XI Racing, Hamlin’s claims about NASCAR’s plan to take over Gateway have some merit. The sanctioning body would certainly benefit greatly from this move, otherwise it wouldn’t have been implemented. It will be interesting to see if NASCAR follows Hamlin’s prediction.
