Denny Hamlin isn’t the owner of 23XI Racing on Sundays

On Sundays, Denny Hamlin is the driver of the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 11 and not the co-owner of 23XI Racing.

Hamlin owes nothing on the track to Bubba Wallace and Tyler Reddick on the final lap in a scenario like Sunday afternoon at Kansas Speedway. Hamlin drove into the final corner and slid into Wallace and Chase Elliott drove by both on the way to his second win of the year.

He isn’t going to apologize. Why?

“Because I’m racing for the win,” Hamlin said on Monday during his Actions Detrimental podcast. “And I definitely won’t apologize for racing for the win.”

‘I won’t apologize’

There was a sentiment from a segment of the audience on Sunday that Hamlin made a mistake because his last lap decision likely cost the team he owns and the driver he employs from advancing to the third round of the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.

And Hamlin rejects that narrative.

“No, no, no, no, no, no,” Hamlin said emphatically. “On Sunday, I’m the driver of the No. 11 car and not the owner of the 23 car. That’s where the disconnect, I think, comes from is that people expect me to be a different person.

“They expect me to be the guy with a 23XI shirt when I’m in the 11 car and that’s just not possible.”

Hamlin said he raced Wallace the same way he would have raced Christopher Bell or Chase Briscoe, who were both in that last lap battle, because his sole responsibility in that moment is to those who work on his No. 11 car.

“Again, my responsibilities as the team owner comes Monday through Saturday,” Hamlin said. “Like, it’s not up to me to get 23XI into the Round of 8 if that makes any sense. That isn’t my responsibility. My responsibility is to get the 11 into the Round of 8.

“I’m the driver of the 11 on Sunday. Joe Gibbs pays me a lot of money to make sure that car wins a championship or has a shot to. And can you imagine the outrage if I just backed off and let (Wallace) have it?”

And unlike the intra-team squabble at Gibbs last week, this was teammates and manufacturer stablemates racing for the win on the final lap and not for 12th on Lap 100. Hamlin had dominated that race with stage victories throughout the first half and only lost the lead due to a slow pit stop.

It was an error on the jackman, who it is worth noting, was a substitute due to a suspension being served over a loose wheel penalty from the Bristol Night Race. Hamlin restarted fifth and had a shot at Wallace only because he raced hard with Bell on the front row.

Hamlin brought SMT data that showed he had the same lift point from earlier in the race but just got aero tight under Wallace. It didn’t work out but Hamlin felt like he owed it to his team to try to win that race.

It also would have been the 60th win of his career in the twilight years of his final contract.

A frustrating loss for Bubba Wallace

Bubba Wallace, 23XI Racing Toyota

Photo by: Chris Graythen – Getty Images

Wallace was measured but frustrated upon climbing out of the car but did flip Hamlin off during the cool down lap. But similar to his previous argument, Hamlin was fine with it because Wallace was gesturing at a rival driver from another team, and not his team owner in that moment.

“If he were to flip me off at 23XI as the car owner, we would have an employer, employee problem but as a competitor, he flipped off the driver of the 11,” Hamlin said. “I don’t have an issue with that.

“Anything directed to me as an owner, I would certainly take an exception to that because I know the resources Michael (Jordan) and I give Bubba every single week to go out there and compete. We have invested a ton to make sure our drivers have the best cars possible.

“I don’t take that personally because I’m assuming we got someone that is on the field in the game in a heated moment. I give him grace for that because we are competitors on Sunday.”