Denny Hamlin believes NASCAR is hurting itself by having to compete with College Football and the NFL as the end of the 2025 season draws closer and closer.

Last weekend saw Chase Elliott win the Hollywood Casino 400, with the former edging out Hamlin and Bubba Wallace on the final lap of double overtime in Kansas to book his place in the playoff Round of 8 at Charlotte’s Roval. However, while NASCAR fever should be at its peak heading into the climax of the season, the return of football this September has seen attention switch.

And in Hamlin’s eyes, that is because NASCAR is less of a priority for fans when compared to football. Speaking on his ‘Actions Detrimental’ podcast, Hamlin outlined how he believes NASCAR needs to fix its scheduling to give it the best chance to thrive and grow moving forward, with the driver also stating he believes fans will prioritize watching football over NASCAR.

“It all comes down to shares, and if football is on, I’m watching it,” began Hamlin. “I might click around during commercials, but it’s my number one priority.”

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“It’s hard for any other sport to grow unless it takes attention away from football, which is just not happening. That’s the reality we’re up against.”

In Hamlin’s eyes, NASCAR needs to move away from its weekend schedule. While that would prove difficult in itself due to scheduling, he believes that the sport needs to own a new night, suggesting Friday nights should be a night NASCAR looks to target moving forward.

He continued: “Can I ask a question? Why not own Friday night instead of Sunday?

“Fans would have time to travel home and aren’t stuck with a school night. Sunday afternoon is traditional, but if you were building a series from scratch, maybe other days could make more sense to let people get back and still watch without conflict.”

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And Hamlin also believes that the 38-week schedule could do with freshening up due to it being “oversaturated.”

“You would not be racing 38 weeks a year if you built it from scratch,” said Hamlin of NASCAR’s schedule.

“This schedule is oversaturated. Other sports can’t play every weekend because of collective bargaining, but we cram too much in. If race teams had a voice, we would never say yes to 38 weekends. Sunday afternoons in the fall are hard to make work with all the competition.”