Denny Hamlin has made it clear since the very first race of 23XI Racing that he was going to prioritize his role as a team owner as much as his as a driver. He has led the team for three full-time seasons now and not much argument can be made about its significant growth in this period. However, Hamlin believes that his drivers, particularly Bubba Wallace, don’t have the right mindset at this level of the game.
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The key issue that Hamlin has is Wallace still thinking that 23XI Racing is an “underdog” team. The #23 driver had mentioned often on Netflix’s Full Speed that the team wasn’t supposed to be there competing at the highest level in the Cup Series playoffs. Noting his annoyance with that opinion, Hamlin said on Actions Detrimental, “Yeah, you are. I expect you to be here.”
He continued, “You have absolutely everything it takes to be a top 10 point guy. And then, you start figuring out how to get a little bit better every year and you start chipping away.” Hamlin contends that his drivers have been given all the resources to finish high in every race and it’s what he expects them to do.
Denny Hamlin wants his drivers at 23XI Racing to get past their modest goals
Taking a look at the journey that the #23 and #45 cars at 23XI Racing have had since 2021, it is hard to miss their progression. Both cars reached career highs in 2023 making it into the postseason. Though Wallace did not see the victory lane, he did make it into the Round of 12. Reddick, on the other hand, brought home 2 race wins.
With all these achievements and the future in hindsight, Denny Hamlin concluded that his team wasn’t an underdog anymore. In his words: “We are not an underdog. This is not an underdog team anymore for sure. Patting ourselves on the back for running in the top 10, that’s a very modest goal. I expect them to contend for wins and top 5s on a regular basis.”
A 10th or 12th finish from Bubba Wallace and Tyler Reddick isn’t going to cut it for Hamlin going into the 2024 season. His belief that that bar is too low for their calibers will be put to the test beginning with the upcoming Daytona 500 on February 18.
