Hamlin, 23XI Shift Focus Back To On-Track Contention

Bubba Wallace (23) battles 23XI Racing co-owner Denny Hamlin during Sunday's YellaWood 500 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway. (Rusty Jarrett/NKP for Toyota Racing photo)

TALLADEGA, Ala. – After being the talk of the NASCAR industry all week long as the subject of a major lawsuit, 23XI Racing cast the chatter aside and worked to write a new headline Sunday afternoon at Talladega Superspeedway.

Team co-owner and Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin finished 10th in the YellaWood 500, while his two pilots – Tyler Reddick and Bubba Wallace – finished 20th and ninth, respectively.

Although the results weren’t overly special, Hamlin and Reddick both put themselves solidly above the NASCAR Cup Series playoff cut line. Hamlin sits fourth at 30 points above and Reddick is ranked seventh, 14 points clear, after both spent the past two weeks flirting with postseason points deficits.

But let’s back up for a second and paint the full picture.

On Oct. 2, 23XI Racing and fellow Cup Series team Front Row Motorsports filed an antitrust lawsuit in North Carolina federal court against NASCAR and the sanctioning body’s chairman Jim France.

The lawsuit follows an extended disagreement between the two sides on the 2025 charter deal, where the two organizations ended up being the only two teams that refused to sign the new agreement.

The two organizations are arguing that NASCAR is running a monopoly of stock car racing, highlighted by certain specifics within the new charter deal.

With the news breaking three days prior to on-track activities at Talladega, those weren’t the only stories and narratives the organization faced. Additional questions surrounded 23XI’s on-track performance, with the team needing a weekend where they contended as a whole given the team’s recent struggles.

Reddick only had one top 10 entering Talladega since his August win at Michigan, and Wallace only had a single finish better than 16th since the Southern 500 in September.

Meanwhile Hamlin, despite three consecutive top 10s, has largely been a non-factor throughout each race, not to mention the perennial title contender had led only one lap at Kansas in his last six races there.

While none of the three were in contention for the win throughout the race at Talladega Sunday, late fortune during a lap-183 wreck helped things fall in their favor, given the trio escaped terminal damage.

It was a sign of positive momentum, even if only slightly, something rare for the organization since the regular season concluded a month ago.

Tyler Reddick in action at Talladega Superspeedway. (Matthew Thacker/NKP for Toyota Racing photo)

“It was a really solid day, considering all of the carnage. To gain points on the cut line, considering the damage and the 20th-place finish, I’ll take that every single time,” said Reddick, after he did get a piece of the ‘Big One’. “It was a hard race; I thought we had a lot of potential for points. Things just didn’t work out on the final lap.”

Granted, when approaching their car set-ups throughout the season on superspeedways, Toyota largely leaned toward handling in the race versus pure speed in qualifying sessions.

That meant, once again on Sunday, the manufacturer’s starting possessions were scattered through the field. This made it difficult for the team to find one another and work well effectively in the draft.

As the stages ran, Wallace and Reddick were stuck around 20th, and Hamlin lagged back to avoid potential chaos — running as low as 36th on occasion.

All three drivers combined for just five laps led.

“It was just an average day. Obviously, I wish we could’ve been in victory lane, but just didn’t have the speed. We kind of tried to dodge all the wrecks – didn't manage to do that,” said Wallace. “Got caught up in the big one which hurt our chances at the end, but a good rebound by the team to get a top 10.”

Denny Hamlin also fell victim to the same wreck as Wallace and Reddick.

“I just got big damage on the hood. We just figured the best option was to race and not fix it,” Hamlin noted. “I didn’t have the speed after that wreck I needed to contend with.”

However, the group found a way to just be there at the end and take what was given to them in overtime at the end of the race. It was something badly needed, for not only the playoff picture, but organization morale as a whole.

Regarding the goals for the upcoming weekend at the newly reconfigured Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway ROVAL, Hamlin kept things simple.

“We need to go to the ROVAL and have a solid effort,” he tipped.

The trio enters the Charlotte ROVAL with a fighting chance to contend this weekend. Reddick has three straight top 10s there and qualified on pole in last year’s race. Although Hamlin has one top 10 in six ROVAL starts, veteran experience serves justice when pressure is on in an elimination race.

Then for the recently turned 31-year-old Wallace, the organization has recently tuned his ROVAL set-ups similar to Reddick’s, prompting a better opportunity to compete, as he’s had three straight top-16 finishes there. That includes a track-best seventh in 2022.

Coverage of the Bank of America ROVAL 400 begins Sunday, Oct. 13 at 2 p.m. ET on NBC, the Performance Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.