After Joe Gibbs Openly Snubbed Denny Hamlin’s Partnership With Billionaire Michael Jordan, Jimmie Johnson Exposes Rick Hendrick’s Reservations to Much-Needed Change

Racing certainly isn’t for the faint-hearted, and if you think racing a 700+ horsepower Cup Series car is tough, wait till you hear what team owners have to go through. While drivers bear the weight of fans’ expectations, team owners have a lot more riding on them.

Everyone, from the racing crew to engineering, transportation, media, & marketing departments to the drivers, all have to work tirelessly and in unison to achieve decent results. With Coach Gibbs himself dropping in on the sets of Actions Detrimental this week, the NASCAR community caught a glimpse of what really goes on with team owners and teams.

After Joe Gibbs publically questioned his veteran driver Denny Hamlin’s wish to be a team owner, NASCAR great Jimmie Johnson also uncovered his former boss’ reservations as he briefly mentioned how Rick Hendrick is giving him a “hard time.”

After Gibbs’ question to Denny Hamlin over team ownership with Michael Jordan, JJ opens up about his “hard time” with Mr. H

Team Penske, Junior Johnson and Associates, and Wood Brothers Racing: NASCAR has seen plenty of teams attain iconic status. However, apart from Lee and Richard Petty’s team, none come close to Hendrick Motorsports and Joe Gibbs Racing.

While both have had their ups and downs over the years, they continue to be the biggest players in NASCAR, fielding 4 top-notch racecars each. However, with the organization implementing more budget caps and leveling the playing field for teams and owners, the resourceful teams’ dominance seems to dwindle as smaller teams like RFK Racing and Front Row Motorsports are becoming more and more competitive.

This has now started a new trend of drivers such as Tony Stewart, Brad Keselowski, and Denny Hamlin buying into teams rather than being a part of the larger teams. This was something Joe Gibbs indirectly hinted at when he asked Hamlin, “So I don’t know why you want to be an owner, that’s all I question,” about his partnership with Michael Jordan at 23XI Racing. 

Considering how difficult it is to be a team owner as compared to being a driver, Rick Hendrick has asked his former driver Jimmie Johnson about his decision to take ownership of Legacy Motor Club. In an exclusive to Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s Dirty Mo Media, JJ said, “Mr. (Rick) Hendrick is giving me a hard time over this as well. You know it is challenging and Mr. Gibbs and Mr. Hendrick know more than anyone, better than anyone. You know I’m really hopeful that the new media package and the shared revenue will make a difference for the team owners and I’m very excited about the collaboration between the teams, drivers, and NASCAR to continue to grow the sport.”

Expanding on how much better of a deal the drivers get as compared to owners, Joe Gibbs talked at length about Hamlin’s unwise decision to own a Cup team in partnership with Michael Jordan.

READ MORE: “They Were Loose”- Paranoid Denny Hamlin Refused To Take Blame for Shooting Himself in the Foot at Darlington

Joe Gibbs’ “perfect deal” for Denny Hamlin has it all

Unlike the fellow Toyota team, 23XI Racing that got both of its cars into the playoffs, JGR is behind on the front but not by a long margin. Gibbs’ grandson, Ty Gibbs who looked like he was having a dream rookie season failed to qualify while the rest of its 3 out of the 4 cars have.

The scene is a bit dark in HMS, 2 of its star drivers including the 2020 Cup Series champion, Chase Elliott, and the #48 driver, Alex Bowman succumbed to the playoff pressure. And if you look closely, the advantage of these larger and more resourceful teams is now slowly diminishing with NASCAR’s newer policies and budget caps.

Thus prompting team owners like Gibbs to question drivers like Denny Hamlin’s reasoning to start a team of his own. Dropping down to the veteran’s Action Detrimental studio with a newly revised contract for Hamlin for 2024, Gibbs asked just that.

He said, “He doesn’t listen to me, I tried to tell him, you got the perfect deal, you’re driving a racecar. You’re going to have fun and drive a racecar for a living, everybody wants to do that, you make all the money if we want a purse on the weekends, he gets half.” He then mentioned the perfect deal, “The other thing is they all got great-looking girls the driver so they got fun, money, and girls and that’s my deal. You got a good deal.”

With drivers taking away the “trifecta” of money, fun, and girls, the old-timer shared his dilemma, saying, “I don’t know why you want to be an owner, that’s all I question.” 

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