"Certainly not 36 or 38": Denny Hamlin voices his concern against 'too many races' in NASCAR

After the Richmond race, Denny Hamlin expressed his thoughts on the current NASCAR schedule. Currently, the Cup Series has 36 points-paying races and two exhibition events.

On the Actions Detrimental podcast, Hamlin shared his thoughts on Richmond losing one of its races for the 2025 season. He claimed while it broke his heart, he was pleased to see the 'good crowd turnout' which witnessed drivers making moves and passes on the track.

Hamlin remarked that Richmond was one of the first racetracks in the Next Gen era which began to show signs of boring racing. He further mentioned that Richmond has always been one of NASCAR's strongest markets alongside Indy and Greensboro.

But despite that, fans weren't showing up to the track until the racetrack was reduced to a one-race stop on the schedule. Because of this, Denny Hamlin said fans didn't have an option to 'to get the next one'.

Seguing into his thoughts on the NASCAR schedule in general, Hamlin said:

"I think it's another example that we have too many races in our schedule. We've just oversaturated the market. We're trying to come up with new tracks and things like that, but I am certain of a framework of a sanctioning body or league. And it's like how would it be run? How many races would there be? And it's certainly not 36 or 38 we're actually racing in. So, I just think that there's something to making the people want it instead of just always giving it to them whenever they want it." [26:00]

It is worth mentioning that in the very first season of NASCAR in 1949, there were eight races in total, two of which were exhibition races. As the sport expanded in the years to come, so did the schedule.

Denny Hamlin clarifies teams' participation in the NASCAR scheduling process

With the NASCAR schedule for the 2026 season set to be released soon, Denny Hamlin shared his thoughts on the subject on his podcast. Hamlin claimed that Iowa might be in 'limbo' with San Diego already being announced, Chicagoland making a comeback and the Chicago street race being out.

Having said that, he clarified one misconception when it comes to NASCAR schedules and the participation of teams in that process.

"It's interesting how it all kind of works, but I can assure you of one thing for certain. As much as we, but they talk about collaboration, NASCAR doesn't collaborate at all with the teams, drivers, or anyone on schedule. That's their whole thing. We have nothing to do with it. No input, no nothing. So, whatever it is, it's what they came up with," Denny Hamlin said.

With that said, it will be interesting to see the additions, reductions, and surprises in the NASCAR schedule for 2025 when it is officially announced.