via Getty
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – FEBRUARY 06: Denny Hamlin, driver of the #11 FedEx Express Toyota, is seen on the grid prior to the NASCAR Cup Series Busch Light Clash at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on February 06, 2022 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
via Getty
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – FEBRUARY 06: Denny Hamlin, driver of the #11 FedEx Express Toyota, is seen on the grid prior to the NASCAR Cup Series Busch Light Clash at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on February 06, 2022 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
Denny Hamlin had mixed feelings about Richmond when looking back at the 2022 season. Even though the 41-year-old driver gave Joe Gibbs Racing their first win of the season in the NASCAR Cup Series at Richmond, Hamlin himself is unhappy with 23XI Racing’s performance in 2022.
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NASCAR Cup Series was at Richmond Raceway, Virginia for the sixth race of the season. This is where Denny won his first race while his team couldn’t put up decent performances on board. Denny co-owns 23XI Racing with NBA star Michael Jordan.
The two drivers Bubba Wallace and Kurt Busch finished the race in 26th and 35th place respectively. Talking about this in a media session, Hamlin conveyed, “The win (last week) was really exciting until you get out of the car, look at the pylon and go “what the f*ck?”
Why Denny Hamlin is visibly upset?
23XI Racing has claimed just four top-10 and just two top 3 finishes out of a possible 14. Darrell Wallace Jr. finished six races outside of the top-10. His best finish came in the season opener at Daytona when he finished second behind Team Penske’s Austin Cindric.
It was great having @drpepper back on track at @RichmondRaceway! 🥤 pic.twitter.com/jDZy3kyE93
— 23XI Racing (@23XIRacing) April 5, 2022
The rest of the finishes have been pretty poor as per the statistics. Bubba finished the race in 19th Fontana, 25th in Las Vegas, 22nd in Phoenix, 13th in Hampton, 38th in Austin, and 26th in the most recent race in Richmond. Currently, Wallace Jr. sits at 22nd place in the driver’s standings with 133 points.
When talking about the other 23XI driver, Kurt Busch, his performance hasn’t been super impressive in 2022. With Kurt’s best finish coming in Hampton where he claimed the third position, the other races have been quite average as per the statistics.
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26th and 35th place finishes for @BubbaWallace and @KurtBusch. Not our best day on the track from the beginning and never really gained ground.
Staying hungry to get better each go around. Short week ahead of us before we’re under the lights Saturday night in @MartinsvilleSwy. pic.twitter.com/n6ZRbNjIbi
— 23XI Racing (@23XIRacing) April 3, 2022
Except for the third place, Kurt finished the races in 19th in Daytona, 8th in Fontana, 13th in Las Vegas, 5th in Phoenix, 32nd in Austin, and 35th in the most recently concluded race in Richmond. As per the driver’s championship, the 23XI driver is in 18th place with 155 points.
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Interestingly, last season’s second runner up Denny is between the duo who races for his team. With the 40 valuable points he picked up last week, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver pulled himself up to place him in 20th position in the driver’s standings. As NASCAR goes to Martinsville this week, it’ll be interesting to see who excels better. Will it be Denny himself? Or his 23XI Racing? Only time will tell.
