Denny Hamlin weighs impact of Bubba Wallace Daytona duel win

While Denny Hamlin lost out on his fourth Daytona 500 win, his 23XI Racing organization had some moderate success. Tyler Reddick was runner-up on Sunday in the Great American Race, and Bubba Wallace brought home a win in his NASCAR Duel race earlier in the week.

Bubba Wallace has not won a Cup Series race since Kansas 2022. Getting back to victory lane is top priority for the 23 team right now. With new crew chief Charles Denike on the pit box, Wallace controlled and won his Duel race last Thursday.

Being able to deliver a trophy to Michael Jordan is a big deal. This week on Actions Detrimental, Hamlin talked about what the Duel win means for his longtime driver.

“I mean, I think for everyone it’s different. It’s certainly awesome to start your Speedweek off that way and I mean, it’s on Thursday. I think it means [something] different for everyone. He hadn’t won one yet, so I think that is big. You also get 10 points for the regular season. So, you do get points which definitely matters. And you get a trophy.

“What I loved about winning a Duel or back when we had this Clash at Daytona, is the trophy would sit in your motor home all week. You know, that trophy sits there because you’re there all week and it’s like, ‘Hell yeah, we’re already leaving with some hardware.’ Right? No matter what happens in the 500, you’re going home with something. So, that’s the best part of it.”

That win is good for Bubba Wallace and his team. Tyler Reddick pushed him the whole way to that Duel win. Going into another drafting track at Atlanta with that knowledge in the back of your mind is a confidence booster.

Just look at how devastated Erik Jones was to lose out on the Duel 2 race win. Jones had it taken away due to a late caution as Austin Cindric was still ahead before the finish line.

Does it kill your season or your confidence is you lose the race? No. Can it give you a boost and something to point to as a positive moving forward? Absolutely. With how tight the points battles have been in the regular season and playoffs lately, a 10-point bonus isn’t bad, either.

Denny Hamlin came close to fourth Daytona 500

Going into the final overtime restart, it felt like this was going to be a fight between Denny Hamlin and Austin Cindric with some kind of Hail Mary thrown by a few others towards the finish. Then Cole Custer happened.

Hamlin was spun out from the front of the field and the big one started to unfold. NASCAR did not throw the caution flag and instead allowed the race to be completed as William Byron and Tyler Reddick raced to the finish.

It would have been so great to see Hamlin and Cindric trade the lead all the way into the trioval and then let God sort it out. But we never even got to Turn 4 before the field began to wreck.

While Denny Hamlin fell short, he showed that he still has that knack for superspeedway racing. His skills aren’t used to the extent they used to be in the older cars. However, going into Atlanta, Hamlin has to feel good about his overall Daytona performance.