Denny Hamlin: 'There is a part of me that wants to drive for 23XI'

Denny Hamlin is committed to Joe Gibbs Racing, while being in a unique situation as the co-owner of 23XI Racing, with none other than Michael Jordan.

From the moment Hamlin started his race team, questions persisted of his future with JGR, and whether or not he’d eventually driver for his own organization in the future. During the latest episode of Harvick’s Happy Hour, Hamlin sat down for an interview with Kevin Harvick, where he shared some fascinating insight into that topic.

“I see my full time career ending at Joe Gibbs Racing,” Hamlin said, regarding how long he’ll remain the wheelman of the No. 11. “I don’t know whether I’ll just shut the switch off, or I’ll just do some one offs here and there. The only problem I have is my competitiveness. And there’s no way I can go to a track knowing I can’t win. If I know that I can’t win, there’s no way I’ll do it. I just — I won’t. I have too much pride to do that. So I don’t know when the switch will go off, in the switch of competition, where I’m just not as fast as I need to be, or my craft isn’t as good as it needs to be. It’s coming. I don’t know when it will come.

“I think I’m still very, very high up on the level of skill set, for my age. But I know that eventually, the reaction is just going to slow down, just enough to take me out of competition. And when that happens, I’m gonna just stop immediately. And I just, I don’t know when that is. I mean, you were able to make it go till you know, mid to late 40s. So I’d love for it to go that long. But I just, I have my doubts.”

While Hamlin believes JGR still gives him the best shot to win week-in and week-out, he relented that he’d be surprised if he doesn’t suit up for 23XI Racing sometime in the future.

“I think it would take a few years, because there’s — you’ve gotta have a pit crew too. I mean, the pit crew is such a big part of the results nowadays. The only advantage to that now though, is that the cars are so similar. And so I’m very confident in the speed of the cars,” Hamlin added. “23XI is just as fast as Joe Gibbs Racing is. But there’s so many other elements that play into the result, that would take a few years to get. I mean, you got to have the right personnel on the top of the pit box. You’ve got to have the right engineer. There’s just, you’d have to put that team together. And it certainly would take a few years. So that’s, you know, there’s a few hesitations I have.

“One is that, I want to end my career with Joe Gibbs Racing, because I want to be loyal to the person that gave me my start. 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.”

Alas, Denny Hamlin will ultimately be the one who decides when his time is up at JGR, and if he’ll drive under the 23XI Racing banner. It doesn’t seem to be coming soon, but the veteran NASCAR wheelman knows it’ll happen one day, it just remains to be seen when that is.