On the Lookout for Redemption, Can Denny Hamlin Beat Michael Jordan’s Genius at Texas?

On one hand, he is as ambitious as he can get about his own career as a driver. And on the other, he is one of the most responsible individuals when it comes to assuming the role of a team owner. The fans have witnessed Denny Hamlin acting like a father while protecting 23XI Racing. However, they have also seen him ruthlessly running down his fellow racers in order to cruise down the victory lane. Although NASCAR does not propagate dirty racing, Denny Hamlin indeed races hard.

And that too, for good reason. In his 18 years of Cup racing with Joe Gibbs Racing, he has amassed 51 wins, but not for once, has he won a Championship title. So it’s natural for him to go all out in every single race henceforth. Moreover, in NASCAR’s top-tier races, every single car runs at full throttle to bag that cherished win. And when cars run three or even four wide along the corners of NASCAR ovals, the chances of contact are just inevitable. But Denny Hamlin does not care.

Denny Hamlin might have to beat his own driver at Texas

After slacking off at Kansas, Denny Hamlin regretted not capitalizing on the overtime restart. Meanwhile, his driver Tyler Reddick utilized his four fresh tires and made a risky three-wide pass to lead the last two laps of the race; the most important two laps.

Denny Hamlin has had one of the fastest cars in the entire round of 16 if not the fastest one. But it is only at Bristol that he secured the win. At Darlington, Denny Hamlin fell out of contention, accounting for a loose wheel. At Kansas, he lost to his own employee, Tyler Reddick. Indeed, stock car racing is a game of luck.

According to NBC Sports, Denny Hamlin said in a post-race presser, “When you are younger in your 20’s or low 30s, you have so much runway, where if you don’t get it this time, I’ll get it the next… I want to compete at a high level in my final year. I don’t want to kind of trickle off. I’m way too competitive to do it. There is no way I could go to the race track not knowing that I could win.”

Moving on to Texas Motor Speedway, Denny Hamlin is perhaps looking forward to bagging his 52nd Cup Series win. And Tyler Reddick might be his contention. If one looks at the stats, Reddick had a win at Texas Motor Speedway last year, but Denny Hamlin has none. Besides having zero top-5 finishes at the 1.5 mile-long track since 2020, Denny Hamlin has only 2 top-10 finishes there, which is still one less than what Tyler Reddick has. Tyler Reddick has led 75 combined laps at Texas Motor Speedway in the last 3 years while the number for his boss is a mere 15.

Watch this story: NASCAR Fans Savagely Trash Denny Hamlin for Wrecking Himself at Sonoma

Hence, this Sunday’s race at Texas Motor Speedway might be one to really enjoy for all Denny Hamlin fans out there. It will definitely be a spectacle to see how the JGR driver maintains his professional integrity while posing his winning contention.

Hamlin is stuck between the dichotomy between the responsibilities of an owner and a driver

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There is a reason Joe Gibbs Racing has even approached Denny Hamlin to extend the contract between the two for many more years to come. But Denny Hamlin took his sweet time. There were many things on his bucket list.

One, the manufacturer deal between Toyota and 23XI Racing was going to be over by the end of this year. Two, the alliance of 23XI Racing with Joe Gibbs Racing was almost over. And not to mention, Denny Hamlin’s driver contract with Joe Gibbs was also ending before 2024.

However, to everyone’s joy, Denny Hamlin has extended all the aforementioned contracts and is now set to achieve newer heights in his career. As an owner, this is the first time that he has all his cars in the Cup Series playoffs, which is a dream for every Cup team out there. Even bigshot teams like Hendrick Motorsports and Stewart-Haas Racing failed to do what 23XI has done.

Having said that, Hamlin’s demeanor shifts remarkably when he straps himself up to the seat of his number 11 Toyota Camry. When Tyler Reddick won in Kansas, he said, “It is a sport of chance at time and luck does play a factor. We were unlucky to get that caution. We knew there was gonna be a handful of cars that was going to do the opposite of what we did.”

“I think the right call was four tires; the 45 just did a great job of executing. They executed the restart really well. Makes me happy (if) that wasn’t us it was them,” he added with not a very happy face.

Read more: Denny Hamlin Takes a Mean Jab At His Championship Drought As NASCAR Insider Hopes to “Eventually Get it Right”