NASCAR: Playoff system has led to more aggressive driving

Defending Richmond Raceway NASCAR Cup Series winner Alex Bowman addressed the media Saturday morning and acknowledged that the style of competition in all three national series has become increasingly aggressive. And he expects it to be no different in the first short track test of the Next Gen car this weekend.

Bowman, who was involved in a pair of accidents in the frantic last laps of racing in both the Camping World Truck Series and NASCAR Cup Series events at Circuit of the Americas (COTA) last week, said he agreed with series veteran Denny Hamlin who questioned the level of early-season intensity on social media this week.

“I think the Playoff format has a lot to do with that, but I think we’ve seen that over the course of the years,” said Bowman, who finished runner-up at COTA in the NASCAR Cup Series race after a last lap tussle with race winner Ross Chastain.

“You’ve seen people spin people out at the end of the races and get pretty physical at the end of the races for a long time. I think there’s some new guys in the series that are extremely aggressive. Everyone knows how aggressive Ross (Chastain) is at all times. A.J. (Allmendinger) is an aggressive driver too.

“I don’t necessarily think it has changed as much as Denny (Hamlin) thinks, maybe,” he continued. “But I think there’s a reason and if you have to put your finger on it, it would be the Playoff format How much winning matters, and sometimes you can overcome those guys hating you for that trophy.” Holly Cain/NASCAR