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23XI Racing co-owner Denny Hamlin capped off an eventful weekend at Talladega Superspeedway. Hamlin was classified 37th after crashing out of the GEICO 500 but made his way to victory lane to celebrate Tyler Reddick's historic win.
Midway through the third stage, Reddick led the Toyota drivers in a single file after making their final pitstop with Hamlin running mid-pack. Their strategy gamble unraveled as Erik Jones and Bubba Wallace crashed out, collecting the #11 JGR driver.
Tyler Reddick escaped the wreck and went on to win the race in his #45 Jordan Brand Toyota. Team co-owner Michael Jordan's presence at the track amplified the significance of the victory, as Denny Hamlin shrugged off his disappointing result and joined the team in victory lane.
Hamlin summed up his weekend in an Instagram post, the caption of which read:
"Even when I lose, I win. "
Denny Hamlin also opened up about his emotional turmoil during last weekend's race in the latest episode of his Actions Detrimental podcast. Hamlin described the sudden change in emotions he experienced after Reddick crossed the checkered flag first with a last-lap pass.
"My emotions went from wanting to get the hell out of there, to suddenly being happy and excited. I still find myself hard because I'm such a tough competitor, getting away from the emotion of 'Damn my day just sucked,'" he said. [49:50]
"Oddly enough when my cars have won, I usually had a pretty good day myself... But today was like, 'Oh God I finished like last, I left there with no points' and all of sudden my brain has to shift to 'Oh I need to be excited right now.'" [49:40]
The #11 Joe Gibbs Racing driver added that he genuinely felt excited after joining the team celebrations.
Denny Hamlin makes bold prediction for Dover Cup race
The #11 Joe Gibbs Racing driver is confident about winning his third Cup race of the season, as NASCAR returns to the Monster Mile in Dover, Delaware. He has one race win on the track and recorded a fifth-place finish last year.
In the closing segment of his latest podcast episode, Denny Hamlin suggested that he would return to victory lane this weekend at Dover Motor Speedway. Referencing baseball legend Babe Ruth's 'Called Shot', Hamlin said:
"We will check in with you after Dover... after we win Dover. I'm gonna call it now we are gonna win Dover... Okay, you got it? Was it Babe Ruth?" [points his hand in the air imitating Ruth] [1:06:05]
More than a decade ago, Hamlin boldly predicted that he would win the 2012 playoff race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway and managed to do so, imitating Ruth on the front stretch.
