Denny Hamlin will be tiptoeing around the 23XI Racing headquarters in the coming weeks despite being the guy who owns the building. The NASCAR Cup Series playoffs are here, and Bubba Wallace and Tyler Reddick will not appreciate one of their biggest competitors knowing all their secret strategies, even if he is a co-owner of the team they race for. Fortunately, Hamlin understands this.
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The Joe Gibbs Racing veteran told the press at Darlington this weekend that he keeps his distance from the team meetings at 23XI Racing during the playoffs. Yes, he still knows more about the team’s cars than any other driver in the series would about a competitor’s. But he consciously tries to stay away wherever he can.
“I feel like there is a good balance that I try to have,” Hamlin said. “I try to give them, while I am able to have access to everything, I give them a little bit of space during the playoffs. I don’t think it’s necessarily fair if I go and see their strategy meeting and then go sit in mine.”
Any driver would be angry and frustrated if a secret strategy of theirs leaks out of the shop and competitors take advantage of it. Hamlin only knows this too well.
He continued, “I do give them their competition space when it comes to the playoffs, because ultimately, while I’m still driving, nothing would anger me more than to give them a secret of mine and then it knocks me out of the playoffs. I let them do it themselves for these ten (races).”
In response, Reddick carries a ruthless perspective heading into the playoffs: Hamlin is nobody but another driver to beat for him.
Reddick will show Hamlin no leniency on the track
Hamlin was one of the first believers in Reddick’s ability to be a Cup Series superstar. His faith is what led to the driver not extending his contract with Richard Childress Racing beyond 2022 and racing for 23XI Racing since 2023.
Since then, Reddick has reached Victory Lane multiple times and lived up to the confidence that Hamlin had in him. For this, they carry a lot of mutual love and respect.
But it all ends when they are both strapped into their seats, waiting for the green flag to wave. Reddick said on SpeedFreaks earlier this year, “On the track, we race each other as if he’s not my owner and I’m not his driver.”
At the same time, they are also wary of not crossing the lines and creating a rift. Their matchups in the upcoming weeks will be the ones to look out for.
