Kevin Harvick: Denny Hamlin brought drama on himself with 23XI charter situation, poor performance at Atlanta

Kevin Harvick believes Denny Hamlin might be focused on too many things at once, dealing with the charter dispute as part of 23XI Racing’s ownership group, and going through some turbulent times as the driver of the No. 11 Toyota.

It was never more apparent than after seeing Hamlin’s performance in Atlanta over the weekend, as the veteran wheelman was never truly a factor in the race, finishing P24. Afterwards, Harvick elaborated on why he believes Hamlin has nobody to blame but himself for the poor performance he put on to start the Round of 16.

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“He has brought it to himself,” Harvick said, via the latest episode of Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour, regarding Hamlin’s distractions. “I think, at Media Day, he wore the sign on his back, and had everything pointing towards answering all those questions, and then it just totally flipped on him, totally flipped on him, when all those teams signed that charter deal, and everything that he had going on. Laid an egg on the racetrack. Now, here he sits, and he’s not done answering all those questions. There’s more questions now.

“I mean, you’re going to have to answer questions about how you raced, you’re going to have to answer questions that you didn’t answer last week about your charter. What are you going to do with Bubba Wallace? What are you going to do with Tyler Reddick? What’s going to happen with your charters? You know, the complaining about the charters is over, right? Because their position almost, you know, doesn’t matter, because of the fact that all the other teams signed the charters and everything that has happened. So, now it’s all kind of flipped on Denny.

“You know, he’s kind of been that voice for everything that’s been happening with the charters, and now he’s in a position where he’s racing for his life to stay in the playoffs, where we all thought he was a championship team. Now, he’s going to have — unless they address it and they figure it out, he’s going to have to address those problems week after week after week, because those questions aren’t going away. … I think that the other thing is too — it’s the first time I’ve ever heard him refer to a statement, like he did, you know, about the charters. It’s a bizarre scenario.”

It certainly feels like 23XI Racing and NASCAR are far from a resolution, and that could spell trouble for Hamlin as he looks to capture his first title as a driver in the Cup Series. Harvick’s co-host Mamba Smith made a good point on the matter, believing that Hamlin’s brain is split at the moment, and that’s having an effect on his performance.

“He’s never had a problem with being Denny Hamlin, the race car driver, and Denny Hamlin, the owner,” Smith added. “Now, there is a little bit of an issue, because the owner is dealing with some things that he’s never had to deal with before, and now the driver — maybe the driver is getting hurt by that a little bit, because now your brain is kind of split.

“I don’t know, it hasn’t been a problem yet, but since this whole charter deal went down, it seems like maybe it is.”

Of course, Denny Hamlin can quiet his detractors with a win this weekend at Watkins Glen, a track where he finished as the runner-up in 2023. Perhaps he can overcome the distractions and lock himself into the Round of 12, as he looks to elevate and win his first Cup Series title in 2024.