Although he drives for Joe Gibbs Racing and wants the No. 11 in victory lane every week, Denny Hamlin is no fool. He knows 23XI Racing is the team to beat this weekend at Kansas. His two-car team swept Kansas last year between Kurt Busch and Bubba Wallace, both in the No. 45 car.
This season, Denny Hamlin has Tyler Reddick in Kurt Busch’s seat. The 45 has already been to victory lane once this year. So, is it time for Bubba to get another win? It is certainly possible.
About a month back, Hamlin talked a big game about turning his season around. While it hasn’t amounted to a win, he has posted two top-5 finishes, his only two of the season since then. So, he isn’t “white hot” but Hamlin will say he’s getting there.
“I said we were hot, not white hot, but hot,” Hamlin said on his podcast, Actions Detrimental. “Richmond or Martinsville probably should have won that one. Didn’t do it. Then cooled off a little bit at Talladega, even though we ran up front all race, so I said we were lukewarm. I’m gonna put us back in the hot category after this week.”
As he looks forward to the next race, he knows the team to beat. It’s the one that he owns.
“We’re going to have to beat 23XI, apparently. … I know what they got, for sure,” Hamlin said, laughing a little.
If he wants to figure out the secret stuff that 23XI has put together at Kansas in the last two races, he’ll figure it out. For now, the AdventHealth 400 waits for Denny Hamlin and the rest of the Cup Series.
Denny Hamlin ‘looking forward’ to Kansas
Even taking away the recent success of 23XI Racin at Kansas, Denny Hamlin has his own history there. In fact, Hamlin is tied with some big names for the most wins a Kansas. A five-way tie between Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Kevin Harvick, Joey Logano, and Hamlin himself.
That’s a pretty solid group of drivers, huh? Imagine if you could have all of them in your fantasy lineup for one race. Looking ahead to Kansas Speedway, Hamlin knows his history there and it is a track he likes to race at.
“Kansas has been a great track for us the past few years, so I’m looking forward to this weekend,” Hamlin said, via NASCAR. “I’m excited about how our 11 team ran and how well Toyota ran as a manufacturer there last year with all the JGR cars up front. We feel like this is an opportunity for us to put ourselves in contention and we’ll just have to execute all day to give ourselves a chance.”
Denny Hamlin is looking to become the all-time wins leader at Kansas. He’ll have to fight off Kevin Harvick and Joey Logano for that honor. And the 23XI Racing team.