“They didn’t have anything detrimental,” Denny Hamlin gives his honest opinion on Bubba Wallace’s Loudon P8
Bubba Wallace returned to the top 16 after the NHMS P8, his first top 10 finish in the last seven races.
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Bubba Wallace and Denny Hamlin (Credits: IMAGO)
23XI Racing had a solid outing at the 2023 New Hampshire Motor Speedway Cup race. Their drivers, Bubba Wallace, and Tyler Reddick, secured top 10s in both qualifying and the main race on Monday. The results, according to the team co-owner Denny Hamlin, are more than what the team envisaged coming to the track.
Denny Hamlin, while talking about the race and playoff picture in his podcast “Action Detrimental,” admitted that his driver did a solid job on the rain-delayed race in Laudon. He claimed that was the kind of races they should be having in the situation there right now, with six races left in the regular Cup season,
“He had a solid day. They had you know him and the 45, they put together a solid race…they didn’t have anything detrimental to happen to him, you know…I mean, those are the solid days that you got to have them right now. They’ve got to have these kind of days where they pick up five stage points, so we’re in that range, then go finish seven to ten,” Hamlin said.
The No:11 Toyota Camry driver claimed that though the 23Xi team aspired to secure the win, they had zero scope of doing it at NHMS. He pointed out that his teammate Martin Truex Jr. in the No:19 car was so fast and so dominant for Wallace to close the gap. Hamlin added that by managing the race and securing a top 10, the team left the track feeling way better ahead of the upcoming race weekend in Pocono.
“You know I get it. You want to go. You want to go for the Gusto. You want to go get a top five, you want to go win the race. He wasn’t going to win the race today there…you know the 19 was too strong, right. You have to just manage the race manage your expectations, and get a solid and trust me, they’re leaving home or leaving the racetrack feeling a lot better than they did,” Hamlin added.
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Denny Hamlin applauds Front Row Motorsports’ battle for playoffs against Bubba Wallace
The three times Daytona 500 winners didn’t hessite to applaud the impressive performance of Front Row Racing and their driver Michael McDowell who has been doing a fabulous job so far this season. McDowell and his team have been able to punch above their weight to produce solid results amidst the poor season Ford has had since the start of the year in terms of securing good marks.
“I think that Front Row, in general, deserves a lot of credit for stepping up this year. Especially you know in a year where clearly you know the manufacturer itself is not at its Peak form. So, I think that they’re doing a phenomenal job they’re executing well, and Michael’s driving the wheels off of it,” Hamlin said.
McDowell is among the drivers who can end Bubba Wallace’s playoff dream if the No:23 driver goes winless in the next six races. The superior consistency of the veteran driver, paired with the hard work of his crew, has been rewarding well consistently. They presently occupy the P15 and p16 points, respectively, in the championship table. Wallace was a p17 before the race after McDowell made the top 16 at Atlanta.
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Justin P Joy
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