When Denny Hamlin isn’t behind the wheel, he seamlessly shifts into the role of a hands-on team owner. Whether he’s congratulating his drivers on strong finishes or postseason berths, or publicly championing their efforts and contract details on his podcast, Hamlin plays the part with conviction. Tyler Reddick and Bubba Wallace, now key cogs in his operation, appear more in sync with their boss these days. Even when they outperform him on the track, Hamlin no longer bristles as he might have in years past.
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Fast-forward to now, and they find themselves in an owner-driver relationship under the 23XI banner. While the past hasn’t been erased, the professional respect is evident. Wallace, when recently asked to reflect on Hamlin’s 700th Cup start and his relationship with the JGR driver, acknowledged both their rocky history and Hamlin’s impact on the team’s journey.
Wallace said, “Yeah. Denny and I, we’ve obviously raced together for a really long time. And I haven’t seen eye to eye on many things, but ever since coming over [to] 23XI, he’s been an instrumental part of helping our organization get better and better, and it’s cool to see where we’re at five years in, having four cars here this weekend.”
He added, “And he’s passionate about the sport and the legacy that he’s leaving. And so I think it’s cool just to say I’ve raced for Denny Hamlin. And yeah, we’re just trying to make it better and better.”
What remains intriguing is how Hamlin himself would now reflect on that fiery 2018 run-in, and how he might have handled such a flashpoint had Wallace already been driving under his banner at the time.
What led to tensions between Hamlin and Wallace?
A relaxed rapport wasn’t always the dynamic with Denny Hamlin and Bubba Wallace. It all started in 2018 when Wallace made his full-time Cup Series debut with Richard Petty Motorsports and tensions flared in his first Daytona 500.
Wallace edged past Hamlin in a fierce drag race to the line to claim second place behind Austin Dillon, sparking a post-race exchange that left no love lost between the two. Wallace didn’t mince words in his interviews, and the duo clashed again in the garage shortly after.
That friction carried into the next event at Atlanta, where the animosity reportedly boiled over behind closed doors in the motorhome lot. Wallace admitted back then that he was ousted from Hamlin’s golf group and chose to exit the basketball league himself amid the rising tension.
