Amid Uncertainty Around Michael Jordan’s NASCAR Team’s Future With Toyota, Denny Hamlin Escapes Fueling $48 Billion Manufacturer Shift Rumors

At the end of the current season, Denny Hamlin had three tasks to check off his bucket list until recently, when he signed a multi-year contract with Joe Gibbs Racing. Now there are two things to take care of. One: the manufacturer’s deal with 23XI Racing; and two: the alliance of 23XI with Joe Gibbs Racing. Although the latter seems to be taken care of, the majority of the anticipation circles around the former question. Will the Michael Jordan-Denny Hamlin-owned Cup Series team switch to Ford, or will they stay with Toyota?

Toyota will most likely continue to be the manufacturer for Denny Hamlin’s team. However, the seven-time Pocono victor did not leak even a single piece of information about how long his contract with JGR is going to be. Neither did he shed any light on the Ford talks going on behind the garage of the 23XI.

Denny Hamlin chose to keep mum during the pre-race presser

The 42-year-old speedster maintained a rather suspenseful demeanor while he spoke to Bob Pockrass for FOX Sports. The number 11 Toyota Camry pilot qualified 14th for Sunday’s race at Kansas Speedway, and, amongst others, Pockrass hurled that one burning question that had Denny Hamlin switch to an ‘I-am-sorry-I-can’t-answer-that’ kind of attitude.

Pockrass asked, “Manufacturer deals with teams (are) typically a little longer than driver deals and I’m curious if you can say is your driver deal length the same as the 23XI Toyota deal or if one is longer than the other?”

Denny Hamlin lost no time in admitting that he was not at liberty to say anything about that.

Bob Pockrass would not let go that easily. He further asked how far the conversation between the $48 million worth Fords and 23XI Racing got going.

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Blunt and blatant as ever, Denny Hamlin replied, “Don’t have any comments on the speculation either.”

While the entire grid was speculating what Hamlin had planned for his team, a Bubba Wallace insider confirmed the team’s manufacturing company and with that, explained the reason behind their decision.

Bubba Wallace’s spotter’s giveaway regarding 23XI’s Toyota-Ford dilemma

In a recent episode of the Door Bumper Clear, Freddie Kraft acknowledged that 23XI would be staying strong with Toyota. However, with the current resurgence of the Fords, one might wonder why Denny Hamlin ditched the high-value company.

According to Kraft, JGR and 23XI are essentially the same. Although they could be second-tier, both 23XI and JGR run the same cars. Moreover, 23XI used Joe Gibbs Racing’s facilities as well.

Kraft said, “If we go to Ford like Penske is always gonna be the top dog at Ford. Then RFK is probably the number 2 team right now, so you go over there and you find yourself in the mix of going to be the third or fourth Ford team versus being the top Toyota team.”

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Freddie Kraft is very happy to stay at Toyota. He reflected back to the time when Kyle Busch left JGR and said, “Last year we got to the point where we were like Kyle Busch is not gonna be back at JGR, the bridges seemed like it was burned”

“It never seemed that way with Denny and I’m glad it worked out,” he added.