Business as Usual for Hamlin, 23XI Racing at Talladega Amid NASCAR Lawsuit

By David Morgan, Associate Editor

TALLADEGA, Ala. – All in.

Denny Hamlin took his seat behind the desk in the Talladega Superspeedway media center on Saturday morning ready to face the music following the news of 23XI Racing filing a lawsuit against NASCAR earlier in the week amid the ongoing battle between the teams and the sanctioning body regarding the new charter agreement.

Despite the chaos off-track, Hamlin remains focused on the task at hand this weekend in Sunday’s YellaWood 500 where he and his 23XI Racing drivers will look to keep themselves out of trouble and keep charging forward in their pursuit of advancing on in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.

“I feel like the reaction has been positive on our end,” Hamlin said. “My Jordan sent me an awesome clip from ‘The Moneyball,’ where John Henry was saying ‘the first one through the wall always gets bloodied.’ But, in the end, it’s because you’re threatening the status quo and threatening people’s jobs and things like that.

“I hope it’s not seen that way, just seeing that this is certainly an opportunity for us to try to promote change in the sport that’s positive for everyone. And that’s teams, drivers, fans, everyone. I feel like, certainly on our end, that’s actually been good for me. This is not like just one day, we woke up and said ‘this is going to happen.’ This has been on the plate for a while.

“And certainly, from my standpoint, it’s provided more relief for me to put more focus on the No. 11 car and everything I have to do there since it’s out, done and now there’s other people out to speak on it, from the legality standpoint.”

Asked whether he felt the commitment he and 23XI have made into the sport has been fully appreciated by NASCAR, Hamlin took a long pause as he chose his words carefully, then saying:

“Probably not.”

Hamlin added that the outside noise that the lawsuit has provided has only amped up his resolve to be even more competitive from here on out as he pursues his elusive first Cup championship.

“Make no mistake, the competitor in me, you don’t think I don’t want to come out here and win this weekend more than any,” Hamlin said. “That’s what I fuel myself on, making the 18-foot putt on hole 18 to win the match. Like, I live for those moments. So, certainly, anyone that knows me personally will tell you that these moments, you’ll typically get more out of Denny because I hate to lose and certainly will not justify any excuses to losing.

“And so, I’m going to give it all I can, and to answer your question directly, it’s very similar and a big thing, when you think about it. But this isn’t a responsibility I’m taking all myself, right? We have a team that handles this now and they’re now speaking upon it and acting upon it. Really, the work’s been done on my standpoint, you just let them do their work and things will work themselves out.”

As for the lone 23XI driver in the Playoffs, regular season champion Tyler Reddick, he is likewise taking an all-business approach like Hamlin and trying to stay focused on turning around the luck of the No. 45 team this weekend at Talladega, where he won back in the spring.

After a poor showing in the first race of the Round of 12 at Kansas, Reddick enters the weekend in danger as he sits four points below the cut-off line.

“I stand behind them,” Reddick said regarding his stance on the suit. “I’ve stood behind their vision and what they believe in when I made the choice to come to 23XI and that has not changed. I feel the same way.”

Reddick added that compartmentalization will be the key for him and his team for the remainder of the postseason to block out the noise and turn their luck around to be able to advance on in the Playoffs.

“I gotta get back to being me, you know, Tyler, the driver of the 45 and figuring out what my weaknesses will look like. What does preparation look like? This is a tricky one. You know, you gotta really have your head on straight, right?

“You gotta be thinking about what’s directly ahead of you…. you have to be able to compartmentalize this stuff and get back to what’s right ahead.”

Hamlin will start eighth in Sunday’s race at Talladega, while Reddick will start in 14^th place.