MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Denny Hamlin has two ways to get into the Championship 4 in the NASCAR Cup Series.
As a driver, Hamlin can race his way into the final four by winning Sunday’s race or advancing on points. But as a team owner, one of Hamlin’s drivers at 23XI Racing can advance by doing the same thing.
It’s Tyler Reddick, the driver of the No. 45 Toyota at 23XI — the team Hamlin co-owns with basketball legend Michael Jordan.
Reddick enters Sunday’s Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway 10 points below the cutline, with the final transfer spot currently held by Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney. Hamlin enters Sunday’s race 17 points below the cutline, which is the same deficit as his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Martin Truex Jr.
Truex won the pole Saturday and will start first in the 500-lap short track battle.
Hamlin starts fourth in the No. 11 FedEx Toyota, while Reddick starts 19th in the No. 45 The Beast Unleashed Toyota.
If Hamlin makes it to the championship round, he benefits as a driver. If Reddick advances to the Final Four, Hamlin benefits as a NASCAR Cup Series team owner. SPEED SPORT asked Hamlin on Saturday at Martinsville Speedway how he is able to separate “Denny the Driver” from “Hamlin the Team Owner?”
“The way I see it is I’ve got two shots to get into the final four,” Hamlin responded to SPEED SPORT’s question. “I certainly would rather do it on the driver’s side because there are going to be far less opportunities to do that, than what it would be on the owner’s side, but also really happy that team has worked itself into a position that if it performs well, it could get in as well.
“But this weekend, they (Reddick and the No. 45 team) are unfortunately competitors, and I will treat them as that.”
A few hours later, SPEED SPORT asked Reddick about the unusual situation of having to beat his team owner in the final race of the semifinal round of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.
“It’s a tough spot for him, right?” Reddick said. “Fortunately for me, I’m just a driver. He’s a driver and owner. We’ll be racing him for sure. We do have seven spots to give to him and I know he will be running strong, but we need to run just a little bit strong, just as good as him all day long.
“If we do that, then we can close the gap to Blaney and hopefully no one else that we are not expecting gets to victory lane so we can find our way there.”
Denny, the driver, is focused on what Joe Gibbs Racing is doing to prepare his No. 11 Toyota. Hamlin, the team owner, assessed how well 23XI has developed in just its third full season in the NASCAR Cup Series.
“I’m very impressed and that whole competition group over there, and what Billy (Scott) and Bootie (Barker) do week-in and week-out with Dave Rogers and Wheels (Mike Wheeler) — they do a fantastic job,” Hamlin said. “With a few of the meetings — I don’t get a whole lot of invites too — but have set in on a couple of times, I was very, very impressed with what they do and their preparation and how they prepare for each and every weekend.
“I’m really happy to see how that team is progressing, and certainly think they are on the right timeline that I set out for them.”
But what happens if it comes down to Reddick and Hamlin fighting it out for the final spot to advance into the Championship 4?
“You think about all that stuff, but that is so many what-ifs, that I would be losing focus on what I can control,” Hamlin said. “Those are split second decisions, when they happen — like Chase Elliott in 2017 — that was a split second, panic mode that this is my only shot to make it, I’ve got to do it now.
“Things change when you get in the moment for sure and you don’t always think 100 percent clearly, but if you come up with a plan beforehand, it helps your IQ in that moment, because you have thought through it. I understand it both ways.
“The 45 (Tyler Reddick) and the 11 — if we are racing each other and he knocks me out of the way, it would be hard for me to say you shouldn’t have done that because he’s racing and the other way around. Certainly, I wouldn’t expect us to wreck each other, but we are competitors and competing for what would be dreams for both of us.”
Hamlin has had an outstanding career in the Cup Series with three Daytona 500 wins, three Southern 500 victories and 51 career wins. But he has never won a NASCAR Cup Series championship.
He has to advance out of Sunday’s Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway in order to get that chance next Sunday at Phoenix. But should he never win a NASCAR Cup Series championship, it certainly isn’t going to change Hamlin, one way or another.
“Don’t get it twisted — that’s our goal, every year, is to make the final four,” Hamlin said. “We want to win a championship, but you have to win a race to do that. You’ve got to have a good series of events happen through the first 26, and really these three race seasons, we have leading up to it.
“It is tough. I certainly know a championship will not change how I view my career and what I’ve accomplished. It will only change, and probably not, change what others view of me. That’s the only difference that trophy would bring.
“I actually saw this week where someone asked Kyle Larson on how does a championship change you? He’s like nothing at all. Changes nothing. Mark Martin — you haven’t won one — what does it change? Nothing. It is what it is.
“Even on the local short track level, I always said I didn’t care about the accomplishments, I just wanted to be a threat that the competition saw every week. If we were going to win, we are going to have to beat him, and when you hit the race track, people grabbed the stopwatches.
“That’s the respect amongst the competitors that I hoped to gain throughout my career, and I feel like we’ve gotten that. Sure, I would love to have the accolades — I really would — but certainly, I’m not going to get too down on it.
“Racing has afforded me a great life, and a great retirement plan with 23XI. I love this sport, and whatever the outcome is, it is. I’m certainly going to give it my all, and not regret any one thing and any result that has happened because I know I’ve given it my best effort for sure.
“We’ve done well. I love those opportunities for sure.
“I wouldn’t choose it — over being ahead — but certainly there is an opportunity to show what you are made of.”