“I love it when a plan comes together.” – John ‘Hannibal’ Smith, The A-Team
You can’t alway get want you want, but sometimes … you get a slightly different version of it.
Ten months ago, I laid out my grand vision for the ideal All-Star Race.
It involved a bracket and one-on-one races culminating in a final round race between four drivers.
It was shamelessly inspired by Denny Hamlin‘s own bracket challenge that debuted last year.
Now one year later, NASCAR is shamelessly ripping somebody off and giving them none of the credit.
Though Hamlin is being a good sport about it.
Yes, a five-race in-season tournament is coming to NASCAR.
This is a needed splash to keep buzz around the sport long after the Daytona 500 is over, and it’s a win for NASCAR’s new TV partners: Amazon and Warner Bros. Discovery.
Sure, having Dale Earnhardt Jr. as the linchpin of the your so-far unannounced commentary team is a plus.
I personally can’t wait to see how these five races — plus the three Prime races that will determine the seeding for it — spice up the season.
Because, as Kyle Larson told NBC Sports Tuesday, it’s a really long season.
“The summer months get stale,” Larson said. “Not boring, but like it just gets repetitive. You lose some excitement.
“So I think this bracket, or this whatever you want to call it, is going to add a lot of excitement and more storylines.”
Thirty-six race weekends takes its toll, and there are certain points when everything starts to blur together.
The tournament gives the post-Coca-Cola 600 portion of the season a distinct identity.
Also, this should be an answer to those who criticize the television partners for only focusing on the race leaders.
The majority of the field gets a crack at this. And if what FOX Sports’ Bob Pockrass reported yesterday pans out, we could get some surprises that advance out of the Round of 32.
What other tracks NASCAR puts in this five-race swing is important.
Because the sanctioning body still has a year to salvage its short-track and road-course packages into something that produces … something better than what we’ve been getting.
Now let’s talk about the prize money.
$1 million to win a *check notes* … five-race tournament.
Now, it doesn’t make much sense to me to have $1 million be the grand prize for any special event in the Cup Series, let alone five races.
$1 million is *still* the winning total for the All-Star Race, and it’s been that way for decades at this point.
Throw in some additional playoff points. Give it more oomph.
The only thing this tournament is missing?
Designated rivalry matchups.
Yes, the previous three races will seed the tournament.
But wouldn’t it be more fun if certain drivers were matched up intentionally in the first round based on their history?
Brad Keselowski vs. Kyle Busch.
Denny Hamlin vs. Ross Chastain.
Chris Buescher vs. Tyler Reddick.
Denny Hamlin vs. Kyle Larson.
Ryan Blaney vs. Erik Jones.
Ryan Blaney vs. Ross Chastain.
Ryan Blaney vs. William Byron.
Huh. Of all people, Blaney sure is building up a Rogues’ Gallery, isn’t he?
Anyway, you get the idea.
Hopefully, some new rivalries are born of this experiment.
Daniel McFadin is a 10-year veteran of the NASCAR media corp. He wrote for NBC Sports from 2015 to October 2020. He currently works full time for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and is lead reporter and an editor for Frontstretch. He is also host of the NASCAR podcast "Dropping the Hammer with Daniel McFadin" presented by Democrat-Gazette.
You can email him at danielmcfadin@gmail.com.