NASCAR's first-ever in-season tournament has been unpredictable, chaotic, and compelling, all qualities that Denny Hamlin believes are marks of early success. Its bold $1 million knockout-style bracket challenge heads into its penultimate round at Dover with four underdog names left standing.At the Dover media center, Hamlin said (via Cup Scene):"I think it's been successful. I think it was unfortunate, right? You probably had… all the top seeds get knocked out pretty early in it. But overall, I thought the implementation of it has been good. I thought the press around it has been good... overall, it's been great for the storyline of the drivers that are still in it." (9:02 onwards)The $1 million in-season tournament mirrored the idea Denny Hamlin had proposed back in 2023 on his Actions Detrimental podcast. A March Madness-style head-to-head bracket that incentivized drivers beyond just points. NASCAR adopted a similar concept for the summer stretch.The tournament quickly gained traction after Round 1's demolition derby at Atlanta Motor Speedway. A 22-car pile-up eliminated most of the top seeds, including all race winners from the season. Hamlin, who triggered the wreck, was ousted by 32nd seed Ty Dillon.Dillon went on to beat Brad Keselowski in Round 2 and Alex Bowman on the final corner at Sonoma. He will face John Hunter Nemechek (12-seed), who outlasted his Legacy Motor Club teammate Erik Jones at Dover, with Ty Gibbs (six-seed) and Tyler Reddick (23-seed) rounding out the final four. The final round will be at Indianapolis Motor Speedway's road course next week.Hamlin, while supportive, also suggested an improvement:"If I were in charge, right, it's just tweaking the tracks that it is. Even your finale next week, you're not going to have side-by-side battle of your head-to-head guys, just because you're going to a track (Indy road course) that we don't run side by side... Just refine your schedule around. If you keep it, make sure you got these five race tracks that could create compelling thing to watch on TV." (9:45 onwards)"Overall, it's been a good success and I'm glad they did implement it."Denny Hamlin's comments resonate with this weekend's semifinalists. Neither Dillon nor Nemechek has a strong pedigree at Dover. Dillon's best finish at Dover is 14th (in 2017), while Nemechek has two Cup starts at the oval, with his best being 20th.On the other side of the bracket, things appear tighter. Gibbs, placed 10th at Dover last year and hasn't finished worse than 14th in the last six races. His consistency has powered wins over Justin Haley, AJ Allmendinger, and Zane Smith. Reddick, meanwhile, has two top-10s in six Dover starts and finished just behind Gibbs at the track last year. He also has three top-10s in his previous six races.Out early in the bracket, Denny Hamlin turns focus to regular season title push at DoverKyle Larson and Denny Hamlin before the NASCAR All-Star Open at North Wilkesboro. Source: ImagnThough his in-season challenge run ended before it began, Denny Hamlin entered Dover with a lot at stake. He is in the battle for a potential path to the regular season championship and valuable playoff seeding with just six races to go.Hamlin, who won at Michigan in early June, started Sunday's AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400 from 13th on the grid. Qualifying was rained out Saturday, and the field was set by NASCAR's metric formula, handing the pole to Chase Elliott, who started alongside JGR's Chase Briscoe.Regular season points leader William Byron rolled off fifth, while Hamlin's JGR teammate Christopher Bell started eighth. Three-time Dover winner Kyle Busch took the green from 10th.The 400-lap battle on Dover's concrete high banks carries a hefty $11 million purse, but the deeper stakes lie in the championship table. Byron leads the standings with 668 points, but his margin has shrunk dramatically. Elliott is just 14 points behind in second. Trailing them, Kyle Larson, Tyler Reddick, and Hamlin have all struggled to find consistency.Denny Hamlin (11) during the NASCAR Cup Series Toyota/Save Mart 350. Source: GettyDenny Hamlin sits fifth with 606 points and comes into Dover as the defending winner. But like Larson and Bell, his results have been erratic: top-four finishes or outside the top 20. His last five results read: 20th (Sonoma), 4th (Chicago), 31st (Nashville), 2nd (Pocono), 1st (Michigan).