Denny Hamlin backs 23XI Racing driver Bubba Wallace's potential amid mounting DNFs and playoff bubble situation

23XI Racing co-owner Denny Hamlin was recently featured in a pre-race interview on Cup Scene's YouTube channel ahead of the Grant 165 scheduled for Sunday. During the interaction, a NASCAR journalist questioned Hamlin on his team driver Bubba Wallace's performance in the past few races.

The #23 Toyota Camry XSE driver had a great start at the beginning of the 2025 season with a P5 finish at the Bowman Gray Stadium, and he won the Duel 1 at Daytona International. He then laid a remarkable P3 finish at Homestead-Miami Speedway and Martinsville Speedway. Following the same pace, he secured top-ten finishes at Nashville and Michigan.

Since Pocono Raceway, Wallace's performance has been drastically affected. He qualified for the race from the back of the pack and finished in P36. Similarly, at Atlanta Motor Speedway, he finished outside the top 20 drivers in P22.

Following that, the journalist raised concerns regarding the current performance of Wallace. However, Denny Hamlin backed his team driver and stated:

Yeah, I mean, he's still in the playoffs after all those DNFs. I don’t know. You just can’t panic in the situation that they're in. I think if we were struggling for speed on that 23 car, then there would be a more heightened sense of alertness to what’s going on. But a lot of these are just circumstances. Now, some of them are circumstances that we control—some of the mechanicals we’ve controlled, some of them we have not." [14:08 onwards]

"And for others, it’s just other people making mistakes in front of him, and he’s getting caught up right in the middle of it. So, I just think you’ve got to stay the course and not panic and hope things play out the way they should. I think if things play out naturally, he is certainly one of the fastest cars that is on that bubble. So, I’m not concerned about him racing his way into the playoffs," he concluded.

Denny Hamlin's team driver, Bubba Wallace, ranks 13th in the Cup Series points table with 428 points. Additionally, he secured six top-ten finishes and three top-five finishes with six unfortunate DNFs in 18 starts this season.

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"Is to create a rivalry": Denny Hamlin got candid about his in-season rivalry with Ty Dillon

During the same interview, Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin shared his views on his in-season rivalry with Kaulig Racing driver Ty Dillon. During the interaction, Hamlin pointed out that the main objective of the in-season tournament was to create such matchups.

During the 260-lap EchoPark Speedway race, Hamlin triggered a massive crash on lap 69, collecting nearly half of the drivers on the grid and ending the race in a DNF. This allowed Dillon to advance to the next round in the tournament.

Reflecting on the same, Denny Hamlin stated:

"I think that that's one of the things that the In-season tournament was meant to do, right? Is to create a rivalry that maybe you wouldn't think of and it's, you know, while that rivalry may only last one week, the social media content will live on for forever for it." [6:12 onwards]

The oldest driver on the grid ranks fourth on the Cup Series points table with 551 points to his name. Additionally, he secured three wins, nine top-ten finishes, eight top-ten finishes, and one pole position in 17 starts this season.