Denny Hamlin praises Bubba Wallace new crew chief Charles Denike, recalls hilarious meeting story

The No. 23 team at 23XI Racing looks a bit different this season. Bootie Barker, Bubba Wallace‘s crew chief since the final eight races of the 2021 season, has moved into a leadership role within the team’s competition group.

In his place, Charles Denike, who previously served atop the pit box for the No. 19 team in the Truck Series. Denike has already made a strong impression on those at 23XI, including the boss in Denny Hamlin. Speaking on Monday’s “Actions Detrimental” podcast, Hamlin said he believes Denike will be a “rock star” for 23XI. Hamlin recalled Denike’s interview, in which the two realized they had crossed paths long before.

“At 23XI, we’re most excited about Charles Denike,” Hamlin said. “When he came in for his interview, we had eye contact and he’s like, ‘Do you remember me?’ I was like, ‘Man, you look familiar.’ He’s like, ‘Yeah, our teams got in a fight a couple times in late models, I was the crew chief for Brandon Butler.’ Which is a guy I used to race late models against, and I was like, ‘That’s where I know you.’ But I was singing his praises all weekend. We believe we found rock star in Charles. Glad we found him, [23XI performance director] Dave Rogers did a great job recruiting him from the Truck Series. He was with the 19 truck and so, I think he’s gonna be a gamechanger for 23XI and Bubba Wallace.

“I think that those two can really do something special this year. We’ve crossed paths but that’s it. He’s [Denike] coming in fresh. He was with a Chevy Truck team now going to a Toyota Cup team, so literally it couldn’t be a bigger transition for him. From what I’ve seen and what I’ve heard, he’s doing a fantastic job.”

Bubba Wallace takes issue with ‘average car’ in Clash debut with new crew chief Charles Denike

The Wallace-Denike partnership got off to a fast start in this past Sunday’s Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium. Wallace finished fifth in the 200-lap exhibition despite having what he described an “average car.”

But as for his relationship with Denike, that is certainly on the up and up.

“Yeah, I think it’s a great way to start off the year and our relationship,” Wallace said after the race. “Since the first day I met Charles, he’s been super just on it and willing to just bust his ass to figure out where we need to be better. He’s not afraid of telling you like, I need to do this. I’m not afraid to tell him the same thing.

“We have a lot to dissect after tonight’s race. I think we agree we were just an average car. That’s not OK with either of us. We got to regroup and refocus. Luckily the next short track is a little bit out. But all in all, the communication side of it, we were texting last night at midnight after we shut down here, just asked him, ‘How did your first day go?’ He said, ‘I thought everything went status quo.’ I agreed.”