The debut of the new Toyota Camry XSE body, and NASCAR’s new short-track package this year caused quite a lot of hiccups across the grid. Despite the teething issues, Joe Gibbs Racing has been consistently bringing out fast cars every weekend. And this time at Richmond, that winning momentum is most likely to stay unfazed, said Hall of Famer Dale Jarrett.
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Denny Hamlin’s victory at Bristol Motor Speedway and Christopher Bell’s win at Phoenix are solid testimonies to the fact that Joe Gibbs Racing is contending for wins every week. “Denny Hamlin has four wins at this (Richmond) racetrack,” said Jarrett. “Martin Truex Jr. has won three of the last nine races there, Christopher Bell always runs well and has already won on somewhat of a short-track back at Phoenix earlier this year and Ty Gibbs is showing with five straight top-10 finishes that he’s just on the verge of getting that first victory for himself.”
“They’ve been just so outstanding at Richmond over the years; they’ve won 18 times at Richmond and nine of the last 16. Just incredible stats by this race team,” exclaimed the 1999 Winston Cup Series champion. But who among the four JGR speedsters is most likely to win? Needless to say, it’s Hamlin.
Will Denny Hamlin ever drive for the team he owns?
Denny Hamlin is one of the winningest drivers that coach Joe Gibbs has on his Cup team. However, Hamlin is 43 and perhaps not far away from his retirement. That leads to speculation that the #11 driver could switch to 23XI Racing, a team that he co-owns with NBA legend, Michael Jordan. But would Hamlin give up the prospects of a bigshot team like Joe Gibbs Racing for a fairly new team, solely because he owns it?
The cars at 23XI Racing are not lagging behind those of Joe Gibbs Racing as far as speed is concerned. It’s just that there are so many elements that work together in putting up the perfect NASCAR team. And it will take a few years to get all of those things right. However, Hamlin recently opened up about what he thinks about driving for his own team.
“I want to end my career with Joe Gibbs Racing because I want to be loyal to the person that gave me my start,” he admitted. “But yes, there is a part of me that wants to drive for 23XI, absolutely. I think, without doubt, I’ll say that I’ll certainly be racing at 23XI in at least a race at some point in my career.”
It’s indeed exciting to even imagine Denny Hamlin driving a 23XI Racing Toyota alongside Bubba Wallace and Tyler Reddick. Nevertheless, the focus right now for Hamlin is probably to win the first championship of his career.
