Owner Denny Hamlin Blames 23XI for Jeopardizing Tyler Reddick’s Chance to End HMS’ Vegas Dominance

Hendrick Motorsports continued their reign at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, with Kyle Larson securing his first win of the 2024 season while winning HMS’ second race in just three so far. Tyler Reddick of 23XI Racing displayed a strong performance throughout, finishing second behind Larson. However, his chances at victory were hampered by pit crew issues, according to co-owner Denny Hamlin.

The #45’s frustrations were evident throughout the Pennzoil 400. He battled back to second place after starting P18 in the middle of the grid, consistently trailing Larson, but crucial pit stop mishaps hampered his progress. A lengthy 13-second stop on Lap 211 and an earlier incident where he stopped too close to the wall on Lap 84 proved costly, significantly impacting his overall track position.

Denny Hamlin Blames Pit Issues for Hendrick’s Victory Over 23XI in Vegas

Hamlin echoed the 2-time Xfinity champion’s frustration, placing the blame squarely on Reddick’s botched stops that cost the runner-up valuable time throughout the race. Speaking on the newest episode of his Actions Detrimental podcast, Hamlin acknowledged Reddick’s potential and the missed opportunity due to pit troubles. Reflecting on Larson’s dominance and Hendrick’s stronghold at Las Vegas, Hamlin emphasized the urgency for improvement within the 23XI pit crew to his co-host Jared Allen.

“Just an absolute dominant day (for HMS). Tyler Reddick’s pit troubles helped with that dominant day. I thought that those two were equal. Well, I would say that Kyle Larson was a little better in the short run. Tyler Reddick was definitely better in the long run. It seemed like they just kind of merged together right at the end stages of the race win but a lot of that was aiding Kyle that Tyler just kept having pit troubles and losing spots and it would take them forever to get back up there”

Talking about the exciting duel amidst a race that saw 21 penalties, the majority of them caused on pit road, he continued, “But I would have liked to see more laps of them dueling it out right? You know, Kyle was pretty much untouchable to the rest of us, dominated the event, and no mistakes on his end, in a race where there was tons of mistakes. All kinds of pit troubles throughout the entire day. “

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The conversation also alluded to another incident involving Hamlin’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Ty Gibbs, and race-winner Kyle Larson on pit road. Jared Allen mentioned that in another pit road incident before Lap 106 in Stage 2, Kyle Larson, in the #5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevy, was involved in an incident with the #54 Toyota driven by Ty Gibbs from Joe Gibbs Racing.

Hamlin shared his thoughts emphasizing Larson’s “dominance” throughout, “He did avoid getting hit on pit road by the #54 and avoided what could have been… Yeah, no doubt. I saw that kind of merging out. He had somebody on the outside of him. He couldn’t get all the way out. Ty’s trying to get out… So yeah he dominated the event, he dominated the weekend really…”

On the other hand, Reddick’s frustration loomed large post-race. In an interview with FOX, Reddick expressed his disappointment, citing his team’s persistent pit stop issues, “Every time I got close, Larson defended pretty well…just stupid mistakes on pit road. Same s—, different year. It gets kind of frustrating. We’ll continue to work on it.” The blame on pit troubles remained a recurring theme, sharing the sentiment of teammate Bubba Wallace, who also faced pit crew challenges in the race.

As the engines stand still for Phoenix, all eyes will be on 23XI overcoming their pit stop struggles to emerge as contenders in the face of relentless dominance.

Read More: “Same Sh*t Different Year” – Tyler Reddick Frustrated With 23XI After Las Vegas Slips Away