“I Have Never Compromised”: Denny Hamlin Makes His Preference Clear in Driver vs Teammate Debate

Heading into the final race of the NASCAR Cup Series regular season, there’s massive pressure on several drivers to win in order to seal a spot in the playoffs. One of them is 23XI Racing driver Bubba Wallace, who currently occupies the last slot in the playoff bubble. If everything goes well for him this weekend, he will enter the playoffs for the first time in his career. Being Daytona, he may need some help from fellow drivers and teams to push him up ahead.

Hence, talking about this, 23XI owner Denny Hamlin recently commented about his preference to help out Wallace over his teammate Ty Gibbs for the win if such a situation occurred. Currently, Gibbs is just 32 points behind the 23XI driver, with Wallace needing a clean race if he is to safely navigate the JGR driver’s challenge.

Denny Hamlin would prefer to help Bubba Wallace at Daytona

While speaking with the press ahead of the race at Daytona, Hamlin mentioned, “No change of my opinion, certainly. I stated from the very beginning that the #11 car always comes first. I have never compromised any of my on-track positions for the race team I own.”

“Certainly, it’s important to be a good leader for the team that I own. It is important to be a good teammate. Therefore, I am going to work with both of them equally (Gibbs and Wallace).”

Denny Hamlin said if he had to make a choice between pushing Bubba Wallace or Ty Gibbs to the win, he’d push Bubba Wallace since Hamlin owns the Wallace car. pic.twitter.com/xkwNF3LUY8

— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) August 25, 2023

Having said that, Hamlin did indeed specify his preference at the end, saying, “But right now if I had to choose, they are side by side coming to the line, at the 00.1 chance that it happens, obviously, I’d probably lean towards the 23 side.”

Can Bubba Wallace win at Daytona this weekend?

Since it has been well established that Wallace feels the most comfortable on a superspeedway, one may argue that Daytona offers the Alabama native the best chance to push for the win. It will be interesting to see how Wallace navigates the race in case there is the possibility of a new winner.

Resorting to a wreck and restart strategy might prove costly considering Gibba is only 32 points back. But if a driver outside the bubble is leading, a caution might be Wallace’s only chance to qualify on points, hoping that a driver already qualified takes the checkered.

And if indeed Hamlin favors Wallace in place of Gibbs on the track, what will be the aftermath for the driver-owner?