It’s a strange dynamic. Denny Hamlin competes for Joe Gibbs Racing and has done so for almost two decades. But at the same time, he’s also the co-owner of 23XI Racing, a team he drives against every week. Recently, he drove to Victory Lane at Martinsville Speedway, a feat he hadn’t achieved in a decade, to secure his first win of 2025. However, competing for the triumph was also his teammate, Christopher Bell, who finished runner-up, and his employee, Bubba Wallace, who ended up third!
Bubba Wallace and Denny Hamlin haven’t always seen eye to eye. In 2018, the drivers got into it after a late collision during the Daytona 500, which led to a heated confrontation outside the media center and Wallace subsequently being removed from Hamlin’s charity teams for golf and basketball. However, this was 7 years ago, when 23XI Racing didn’t exist, and Wallace drove for Richard Petty Motorsports. Ever since Wallace joined the Hamlin co-owned team in 2021, the two drivers have had plenty of mutual respect. In a candid conversation, the 23XI racer shed light on the relationship with his ‘boss,’ revealing a side of the veteran that is rarely seen by the public.
Bubba Wallace praises Hamlin for his balancing act
Denny Hamlin is a man of many talents. Apart from being a lightning-fast racing driver, the 44-year-old is also a shrewd team owner and an outspoken analyst of the NASCAR world. His Actions Detrimental podcast sheds light on the nuances of the stock car racing world, giving insights into the news behind the news, thanks to the Florida native’s vast experience. Despite the ongoing anti-trust lawsuit involving 23XI Racing and NASCAR, the veteran racer has kept his eye on the ball by securing a dominant victory at the 2025 Cook Out 400, breaking a 31-race winless streak.
Revealing how Hamlin balances his many responsibilities, Bubba Wallace said on Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour podcast, “He’s a man of many acts. He’s there just about every Monday for our team meeting, for 23XI. Then we all drive over to JGR for that meeting. He’s juggling multiple hats.” The Alabama native went on to say, “It’s just a lot to manage, and I think he does that well. And when it comes to Sundays, I go back to watch the broadcast on a Monday or Tuesday, and we talk about racing the boss and whatnot. [The] #11 car is not a boss. It’s another competitor.”
Bubba Wallace and Hamlin share a unique relationship. Even though the two drivers share different perspectives on many things, the Alabama native has immense respect for the veteran racer, and he even told him last year, “You’re appreciated more than you know.” Even when it comes to on-track incidents between 23XI and the No. 11 Toyota, the approach isn’t “employee wrecked the boss or boss wrecked the employee. It’s two competitors going at it,” according to Wallace. A mature way of dealing with what can be a tricky situation.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – FEBRUARY 06: Bubba Wallace, driver of the #23 DoorDash Toyota, talks with co-team owner Denny Hamlin, driver of the #11 FedEx Express Toyota, after the last chance qualifying race for the NASCAR Cup Series Busch Light Clash at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on February 06, 2022 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
Aside from the rigors of owning a racing team and driving for a different one, Denny Hamlin is also a family man. He has two daughters, Taylor and Molly, with his fiance Jordan Fish. And in 2025, Hamlin is expecting his third child! Wallace, who had his first son, Becks Hayden, last year, told Harvick, “He’s [Denny Hamlin] about to have another kid now. So on the personal level, more power to him.”
This is the motivator for Hamlin. At 44, he knows his career is in its twilight, so he savors each victory more than his younger days. After seeing his daughters in victory lane last Sunday, Hamlin reflected on what that means to him. “Certainly, however many races I’m going to win between now and the end, I’m going to value them just a little bit more… I don’t always have my kids here. I think it’s been a few years since they were in Victory Lane.”
That says a lot about Denny Hamlin. The veteran driver hasn’t been the most popular figure in the NASCAR community, even saying, “I love it” when fans booed him after his triumph at Pocono Raceway in 2023. That’s when he declared, “I beat your favorite driver”, referring to Kyle Larson, who he exchanged paint with during caution. Kyle Busch, who has been NASCAR’s bad boy in the past, expressed his approval, saying, “I applaud Denny for taking on the role.” It’s a persona the 44-year-old relishes, even though in his personal life, he can be quite different from his brash exterior.
Denny Hamlin reveals what Wallace needs to do to beat him
Rarely would you see a NASCAR driver tell his rival about how to beat him. But in Bubba Wallace’s case, Denny Hamlin is more than happy to lend a helping hand. The No. 23 Toyota racer may not have won a race in nearly two years (86 races to be exact), but there are plenty of positives to take from his performances. Even though he didn’t lead a single lap at Martinsville, Wallace was one of only four drivers who spent the entirety of the race in the top 15.
Giving tips to Wallace, Hamlin said, “They’ll be able to access where his deficits were compared to me and break that down. At that point, he has a decision to make. If I need to make more speed on corner exit, I have to sacrifice something else somewhere. You can’t just put the throttle down and get more speed on exit. It’s an approach thing. Maybe you need to slow up your center a little bit more. Maybe things like that.”
It remains to be seen if Bubba Wallace will heed Hamlin’s advice. The Alabama native could have challenged his ‘boss’ at Martinsville, even saying, “I don’t know if I had anything for Denny. It would have been fun to try.” Even though the Joe Gibbs Racing veteran is hungrier than ever to finally lift the Bill France Cup this time around, nobody would be happier to see Wallace break his winless streak than the No. 11 Toyota driver. They may be competitors on the track, but it’s clear that both racers only want what’s best for each other.
The post “Not a Boss”- Bubba Wallace Reveals Denny Hamlin’s Gratifying Yet Untold Side Masked Behind Villain Arc appeared first on EssentiallySports.