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Denny Hamlin’s Waiver Question, Chase Briscoe-Christopher Bell ‘Feud’, and much more

Welcome to Hoot in the Oval — your all-access pass to everything NASCAR. From Denny’s clutch finishes to Ross’s wild moves, Chase Elliott fandom to Bubba’s bold takes — we’ve got the stories that fuel the track and the timeline. Fast, loud, and unfiltered. Buckle up, y’all. 🏁

The latest edition of our newsletter covers :

  • Hamlin to skip Mexico, will he get a waiver?

  • Briscoe and Bells’ recent fued.

  • Comparing Carson Hocevar to Brad Keselowski.

  • Fans concerned after Bowman’s string of poor performances.

🏁Inside the Oval

Will Denny Hamlin Get a Playoff Waiver After Missing the Mexico Race?

NASCAR heads to Mexico City this weekend for a historic milestone — the Cup Series’ first international, points-paying race. But one major name will be absent from the grid: Denny Hamlin.

Hamlin shared, “We are happy to announce the birth of our Son. Everyone is doing well. My main priority is to be here at home for Jordan and our family over the next few days when she is able to go home and we transition to life as a family of five.”

That naturally raises a key question: Will Hamlin be granted a playoff waiver?

According to NASCAR’s current rulebook, a driver must compete in all regular-season races to remain playoff-eligible — unless granted a waiver.

In recent years, the promotion has approved waivers for various reasons, including medical issues and personal matters. The birth of a child is indeed a valid reason.

After the controversy surrounding Kyle Larson’s waiver last year, NASCAR clarified its stance: Situations like childbirth are legitimate grounds for exemption. The expectation is that Hamlin’s absence will be treated no differently.

So yes, barring anything unexpected, Hamlin will almost certainly receive the waiver.

What he likely won’t retain, however, are his playoff points. Under the updated policy, any driver receiving a waiver forfeits their accumulated playoff bonus points and enters the postseason with a clean slate — just the base 2,000 points.

🏁Insider Take

Chase Briscoe and Christopher Bell’s Latest ‘Feud’, Not Related to NASCAR This Time

When Chase Briscoe and Christopher Bell say “game on” this week, they may not be talking about Sunday’s NASCAR Cup race in Mexico City.

Briscoe and Bell are flexing their home-state pride, trading jabs about the 2025 NBA Finals between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Indiana Pacers. Bell is from Oklahoma and is obviously a huge Thunder fan, while Briscoe is from Indiana and has long cheered for the Pacers.

Briscoe and Bell are friends – well, maybe not when they’re on the racetrack. But off-track, they’re buddies. But that friendship only goes so far when it comes to the NBA Finals.

For instance, when Bell issued a post on X, imploring his favorite NBA team to “Thunder Up", Briscoe replied in kind: “I’ve known you for 15 years and this is the first time I’ve heard you talk about basketball.”

Briscoe then added a subtle dig, “Let’s Go @Pacers / #YesCers!

The exchange of words between the two happened just before Game 3 of the series, which was won by the Pacers to take a 2-1 lead. Well, Bell's OKC will have to find their "thunder" in Game 4 on Friday.

🏁 Trackside Trivia
(One stat. One year. Every edition.)

1999: The Last Caution‑Free Non‑Restrictor Plate NASCAR Cup Race

On June 13, 1999, during the Kmart 400 at Michigan International Speedway, NASCAR ran a full 400-mile race without a single caution flag — the last of its kind for a non-restrictor plate Cup.

  • With no interruptions, drivers raced under constant green flag conditions — a rarity that led to extraordinarily high average speeds, with Dale Jarrett winning at a blistering 173.997 mph.

  • Since NASCAR introduced stage breaks in 2017 — which automatically bring out caution flags — no non-restrictor plate race has gone caution-free.

  • This makes the 1999 Michigan race a historical milestone — the final time fans saw an uninterrupted, full-distance Cup race on a long oval track in the modern era.

🗣️ Pit Politics

Is Carson Hocevar Just Brad Keselowski 2.0?

Is Carson Hocevar a new hit show, or just a replay of Brad Keselowski?

Both are from the state of Michigan. They are full of talent (well, Keselowski used to be when he was younger). Both don’t have a problem smashing fenders with rivals, and are outspoken too.

”So, where’s the difference between the two?

Or better yet, is there a difference between the two?

They are essentially cut from the same cloth. And today’s Hocevar is somewhat like yesterday’s Keselowski, when he was just getting started in the Cup Series. Remember how Keselowski had run-ins with numerous drivers early in his career – and oftentimes several incidents with the same driver – including Jeff Gordon, Carl Edwards, Kyle and Kurt Busch, Denny Hamlin, Paul Menard and several others.

Hocevar apparently graduated from the same school that Keselowski did — the “I don’t take any [Crap] from anyone” one.

He’s already had infamous run-ins with the likes of Ross Chastain and, most recently at Nashville, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Bubba Wallace, among others. And both Chastain and Stenhouse have said they will exact revenge. Right after the Nashville race, Stenhouse said, “Definitely will have something to do about it at one point.”

But Stenhouse later said he had a long talk with Hocevar. He called a truce, saying that he didn’t believe Hocevar punted him on purpose. Hocevar had sent Stenhouse’s car head-on into the outside retaining wall, ending his race, collecting two other cars in the process.

During media availability last week at both Keselowski’s and Hocevar’s home Cup track, Michigan International Speedway, Keselowski addressed comparisons between himself and Hocevar.

“There are some things that I certainly understand, and I felt like when I came in the sport, I was like somewhat of an outsider,” Keselowski began.

“NASCAR had just been through this half-decade-long refresh of all these young guys, and like this driver development door had closed, and like I bullied my way into the sport to some degree,” he added, reflecting on his journey.

“There were some ramifications for that, but it was better than sitting on the sidelines. I imagine that Carson has similar feelings and he's had to fight to earn his spot and get to where he is today, and certainly respect that challenge,” stated Keselowski.

“That said, he's in a good spot now with a team that's got a lot of money and funding to provide great equipment with help from Hendrick and elite pit crews, cars and all that, similar to when I got to Penske and we got rolling [including winning the 2012 Cup championship]. So there are definitely some similarities, but we still have our own identities in a lot of different ways,” he concluded.

🎙️ Hoot’s Radio Chatter

NASCAR Fans Fear the Worst for Alex Bowman After Yet Another Disaster

Alex Bowman’s 2025 campaign is spiraling. After a strong opening run that included poles at Miami and Bristol, he’s now firefighting a losing streak marked by seven finishes of 27th or worse in nine races.

His latest disaster unfolded at Michigan, where a violent, head‑on collision wrecked his #48 Chevy and forced another DNF. Bowman himself admitted it was “one of the hardest hits” he’d taken.

Fans are worried — and their voices are growing louder. One fan commented on X that watching the #48 Camaro “racing around Rick Ware Racing” was embarrassing for Hendrick Motorsports.

Another person mentioned, “Really sucks being a Bowman fan. This is bordering on 2009-2010 Dale Jr. level shittiness. These past 2 months have been an absolute disaster. So damn frustrating.”

On Reddit and in X threads, users are openly speculating about Bowman's future with the team, with one bluntly asking when Carson Hocevar might take over the ride.

Bowman may be cleared to race this weekend in Mexico City, but it may not be enough to reverse the damage. Despite occasional flashes of speed — like strong road course runs — he now races with a cloud of doubt. For Hendrick, this stretch may prompt tough decisions: Can the 32‑year‑old rebound, or is he racing on borrowed time with one of NASCAR’s top teams?

🏁 Lap Back in Time: NASCAR Stat of the Year
(One stat. One year. Every edition.)

2000: Jeff Burton Leads Every Lap at New Hampshire — A Perfect Race That’s Never Been Repeated.

On September 17, 2000, Jeff Burton delivered one of the most dominant performances in NASCAR Cup Series history at the Dura Lube 300 in New Hampshire.

Starting from the pole, Burton led all 300 laps around the 1.058-mile oval — a wire-to-wire victory that has never been replicated in a Cup Series race since.

What makes it even more remarkable? NASCAR had implemented restrictor plates that weekend (typically used at superspeedways) to reduce speeds on the short oval after a spate of fatal accidents earlier that year.

Despite the changes, Burton and the No. 99 Roush Racing team were untouchable, completing a “perfect game” in modern stock car racing — a statistical anomaly in the era of fierce parity and pit strategy.