Denny Hamlin Justifies Decision to Ditch Joe Gibbs Racing After Bubba Wallace Fiasco Last Year

Last year’s campaign for 23XI Racing did not begin on the greatest note. In fact, pit crew issues plagued the team. This especially caused friction between Bubba Wallace and his performance. Wallace eventually lost the momentum in several races, to the point he was extremely frustrated. It was only in the latter half of the season that he received a fresh pit crew team, transferred from Joe Gibbs Racing.

However, to counter that problem, team boss Denny Hamlin had an alternative plan of action in place. Recently, during one of his podcasts, Hamlin explained his reason to get 23XI Racing’s own set of pit crews. Furthermore, detaching from Joe Gibbs Racing in relation to pit crew support.

What did Denny Hamlin mention?

Hamlin stated on his Actions Detrimental podcast, “We made this decision many, many months ago. Probably six months ago that we were going to do our own pit crews. And I wouldn’t take that decision back. And I think that Joe Gibbs racing has tremendous facilities that you know we use as well.”

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“But I could not afford for my two cars to be the fifth and sixth best team. I’ve invested way too much money in this team for us to get the fifth pick or the sixth pick of the draft, right like we, needed to, we weren’t going to be able to be better unless we had picked our own guys”

How would Hamlin recruit the new pit crew?

During the same podcast, Hamlin explained, despite their move away from being reliant on Joe Gibbs Racing for the pit crews, they would still be connected in some capacity. Denny explained that they would be picking them from talent pools both outside and inside JGR.

Hamlin also mentioned that his racing team values experience and expertise when it comes to building their pit crew. Although some younger individuals may have exceptional speed, they may lack the necessary practice to avoid mistakes. The team aims to set practical goals for their pit crews to keep them in the race, even though they may not be the fastest every weekend.

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With all of this in place, there is hope for the team to be on their A-game this season. Although, they might not become the most efficient team overnight in terms of pit crew performance. But they would certainly get a major boost with this support system in place. We are looking forward to a fantastic season for 23XI Racing this year.