“Ford Was After 23XI”: Bubba Wallace Insider Makes Major Revelation Hours After Denny Hamlin Committed to Toyota

After months of speculation, the future of Denny Hamlin and his team, 23XI Racing, was finally secured. He would stay with Joe Gibbs Racing, and his team’s relationship with JGR would remain unchanged going forward. For a while now, there were rumors that Hamlin would follow in Kyle Busch’s footsteps and take 23XI along with him, potentially away from Toyota to a different manufacturer.

But how true were those rumors? Was Hamlin really about to walk away from JGR and Toyota?

Freddie Kraft, the spotter of 23XI driver Bubba Wallace, recently gave an insight into how close the team was to stepping away from Toyota. The spotter also touched upon the big factor that was probably interpreted by Hamlin and his advisors as a downgrade from Toyota in their decision-making process.

Freddie Kraft confirms 23XI Racing could’ve gone to Ford

In a recent episode of the Door Bumper Clear podcast, Kraft revealed that the rumors of 23XI Racing going to Ford were, in fact, true. “Ford was after 23XI,” he said. However, Kraft added that he is happy with the way things have turned out, that 23XI didn’t go to Ford, because it could’ve been a big downgrade.

“Right now, JGR and 23XI are essentially the same. I guess we could be second-tier, but we run the same car and same stuff. If we go to Ford. Penske is always going to be the top dog at Ford, then RFK is probably the No. 2 team right now. So you go over there and you find yourself in the mix of being the 3rd or 4th Ford team versus being the top Toyota team basically,” he described.

“I’m very happy we’re staying at Toyota.”

Denny Hamlin at JGR wasn’t going to be a Kyle Busch 2.0

As for Denny Hamlin choosing to stay with the team he began his NASCAR Cup career with, Kraft claimed that Hamlin belongs to Joe Gibbs Racing. “I’ve never really doubted the fact that he was going to leave, no matter how close it got,” Kraft said.

He then explained why Hamlin’s situation wasn’t similar to Kyle Busch’s situation last year, the resolution of which was Busch leaving JGR and Toyota for Richard Childress Racing and Chevrolet. “It just seemed like last year, we got to the point where we were like, ‘Kyle Busch is not going to be back at JGR.’ The bridges seemed like they were burned,” the spotter claimed.

Kraft added that a Kyle Busch 2.0 “never seemed that way” with Denny Hamlin, and he is glad it all worked out for him, for JGR, for 23XI Racing, and for Toyota.