When the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season began, Denny Hamlin set clear goals for his drivers at 23XI Racing. He wanted them to compete for wins every race weekend and compete for the championship at the end of the year. He based these strong demands on the resources he had made available for them. At the end of this year’s regular season, he finds his team’s goals only half fulfilled.
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Tyler Reddick managed to qualify for the playoffs and did it in some style by winning the regular season championship. He has been splendid all season long so far and deserves all the praise he has been receiving. Bubba Wallace, on the other hand, faced disappointment after missing out on a golden opportunity to make the 16-driver cut in Darlington on Sunday.
Left it all out there.@BubbaWallace | @USAFRecruiting pic.twitter.com/jxdE3K0rNq
— 23XI Racing (@23XIRacing) September 2, 2024
This forced Hamlin to come out and deliver words of motivation to keep the #23 team upbeat. He elaborated after the race, “If they run next year like they’ve run the last 10-12 races, they’re going to be in the playoffs. No sweat. So, I think my message to them is, ‘Stay on the track that you’re at and sometimes you gotta walk before you run.”
The newly set goal for Wallace now is to finish 17th in points. Hamlin added that it was now up to him to race freely without pressure and get the next best result out of this season. The Mobile, Alabama native has five top-10 finishes in the last 12 races. He ran pretty well on Sunday but got caught up in an accident with 22 laps left to go. That effectively ended Wallace’s hopes of earning a playoff spot.
Wallace left heartbroken at not being good enough
“Everybody wants something but something don’t come for free. If you want more, it’s going to cost more. That means you have to put the effort in there.” That is what Michael Jordan told Wallace before the Southern 500 began. The team co-owner was on site to watch his drivers give their best performance and played his role as a supportive pillar as both drivers tried to deliver their best on track.
Wallace started the race from pole position and led 37 laps but eventually saw his stars betray him. “We weren’t good enough, simple as that,” he told NASCAR. “Last two-thirds of the race I said I hope the 11 (Denny Hamlin) and 5 (Kyle Larson) stay up there because the 14 (Briscoe) is fast.”
“Just wasn’t good enough for 16th this year and I hate that. It wasn’t for a lack of effort on this 23 car.” He continued to express clarity that the goal now was to give his best for the next 10 races. He will be hoping to satisfy Hamlin and Jordan in this alternative quest. It remains to be seen how Wallace performs next weekend as the sport heads to Atlanta Motor Speedway for the first round of the postseason.
