“Certainly Would Like to See a Little More” – Denny Hamlin Snubs Bubba Wallace’s Effort as He Struggles to Stay Motivated

Bubba Wallace and teammate Tyler Reddick have not had the best of runs in the last few races. Wallace’s best finish since the race at the Worldwide Technology Raceway is P15. While Tyler Reddick has only finished 27th at best in the same 5 races even after starting from 2nd position in 3 of them. Their boss, the 23XI Racing co-owner Denny Hamlin, opened up on this during the pre-race interviews ahead of the Crayon 301 at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway. He made some interesting remarks on his and the team’s role in supporting the two drivers.

But it’s not just Hamlin, even Wallace and Reddick have reflected on their performances leading up to the Crayon 301. With only 7 races to go until the playoffs begin, Wallace needs to pull off some remarkable performances to clinch his spot in the playoffs alongside his teammate Reddick.

Denny Hamlin’s stance on 23XI Racing and its drivers ahead of Crayon 301

Both Bubba Wallace and Tyler Reddick qualified in the top 10 on Saturday for the Crayon 301. This is only the second time both are starting in the top 10 since the Coca-Cola 600. In a recent tweet, Nathan Solomon shared an interview piece where 23XI Racing‘s co-owner Denny Hamlin was asked to comment on the team’s and specifically Wallace’s recent run of form. Here’s what he said.

“Yeah, I mean they’re running okay. Certainly, would like to see a little more performance, a little more execution on the team’s part. The team has its fair share of growing that they need to do. The drivers, as long as they do their part, then it’s up for us to make sure the team executes. They let him [Wallace] down in some spots, for sure. We all have to get better.”

“Everyone has got to get better for sure,” Hamlin said on Saturday. “I would say when you look at how we break it down, the team certainly needs to take the biggest jump forward on performance. If we do that, I think our drivers are good enough to do it.”

Wallace also reflected on the preparation coming into this weekend. “This week was a big reflection moment for everybody on the 23 team on how we need to execute better,” Wallace said. “Mistakes at this point in the season, there’s really no excuse for it, whether it’s my fault on track or the crew’s fault in preparation. We just have to be better as a team moving forward to even think about the playoffs.”

Teammate Tyler Reddick has already clinched his spot in the playoffs owing to his victory at the Circuit of the Americas. Speaking on Saturday after qualifying, Reddick also made some harsh comments on their overall performance this season.

“We’ve just got to clean up the little details,” he said. “That’s been our biggest fight all year. We’re not making the same mistake twice, but certainly, we’ve had a lot of mistakes that just keep happening. We’ve got to get that out of our system. We’ve got to get back to having some races that go cleanly.”

Amidst his admission that 23XI Racing needs to improve both in terms of performance and execution on track, he also took a dig at predicting who will end up in the top 4 for the title decider.

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Denny Hamlin rules out Kyle Busch but remains hopeful of Chase Elliott in his predictions for the top 4 drivers

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In a recent episode of his podcast, Denny Hamlin made predictions on who the top 4 drivers will be for the final race of the season. Although he said it’s quite difficult to put a finger on the top 4 drivers due to many reasons, he was quick to rule out Kyle Busch while backing the HMS ace, Chase Elliott. He shared his reasons for not counting his long-time former teammate Busch in the top 4.

“Kyle Busch, I don’t understand Kyle Busch. I didn’t think he ran that well yesterday and I looked up and he finished 5th. Again, most of the guys that finished up front were part of that stay-out strategy.” He added, “I’m not sure about Kyle, I’m gonna say I’m probably gonna pass on the final 4 there.”

On the flip side, when talking about Chase Elliott, Hamlin remained hopeful while also criticizing his recent form. He said, “He scores stage points. These other guys don’t consistently score stage points. Like they might finish well because of different reasons or they just run well, but they’re not upfront every week contenders.”

“Generally speaking, the eye test, he’s [Elliott] not been as fast. He will admittedly say, I’m not running as fast as I was before for whatever reason. But he’s finishing well and he’s getting stage points,” Hamlin added.

“So Elliott’s in. I don’t care how you mix this thing up with seven to go,” he concluded.

READ MORE: Denny Hamlin Demands More Respect for “Overachieving” Veteran & Rising Star, With Ancestral NASCAR Legacy

What are your thoughts on Hamlin’s take on 23XI Racing’s performance and his take on the top 4 drivers? Let us know in the comments.