Yesterday, waves of shock and admiration rocked NASCAR. The Autotrader 400 at EchoPark Speedway featured a number of wrecks and pile-ups en route to its conclusion. Most of the NASCAR Cup Series field was caught up in this mess, including Denny Hamlin’s 23XI Racing driver. However, that did not stop the latter from going back-to-back with two wins. And the way he did it compelled his team owner to be bold – elevate him above Dale Earnhardt.
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Dale Earnhardt gets a challenge
“Dale Earnhardt could never,” Denny Hamlin said on ‘Actions Detrimental’. He added, “Just kidding. Um, but remember Dale’s big thing was 18th to 3rd. I think Tyler’s happened in a much shorter amount of time. I love it. The people are just going to get so triggered.”
Tyler Reddick won the race at EchoPark Speedway, just a week after bagging the Daytona 500. After starting from pole position, the No. 45 Toyota driver led a race-best 53 of the 271 laps. But during the final laps of the race, Reddick was buried mid-field.
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Multiple crashes ensued then, sparked by Denny Hamlin, William Byron, Carson Hocevar, and others. A multi-car wreck in the final stage also collected Reddick, which damaged his car. His team had to put heavy tape on the front end without fully repairing it. But by the end of it all, Reddick was leading to the victory.
According to Denny Hamlin, this win deserves a comparison with none other than Dale Earnhardt Sr. The Intimidator owns nine victories at Atlanta’s track. But his 2000 victory in Talladega most closely resembles Reddick’s win. With five laps left, he was outside the top 15, with the right side of his Chevrolet battered. Yet Dale Sr. cut a path forward, taking the lead at the white flag and driving off with the race win.
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Denny Hamlin continued about Tyler Reddick, “It was amazing to watch. Uh, he got to the front really, really quickly. And yeah, as long as you can keep your bumper, like the fender is not that important. As long as you can keep your front bumper intact, the fender over the tire usually doesn’t mean a ton because it hits the front bumper and then it goes over the car.” He added, “But it looked like it just kind of broke in a really advantageous area where uh it didn’t affect his handling too much.”
Tyler Reddick may be treading the Intimidator’s path. However, Denny Hamlin feels that there is a long way to go for both of his drivers.
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Cautiously applauding the progress
Tyler Reddick’s double whammy was the foremost proof of 23XI Racing’s success. However, Bubba Wallace also showed how competitive Michael Jordan’s team can be. During the Daytona 500, the No. 23 Toyota led for 40 laps despite ending up 10th by the end. In Atlanta, Wallace bagged points with a P2 in Stage 1 and followed it up by winning Stage 2. And he could have won the race if not for a Carson Hocevar mishap.
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Both Reddick’s and Wallace’s winning moves elicited praise from the public. Some fans even questioned if 23XI Racing is finally on par with the top-tier Cup Series teams like Hendrick Motorsports. But Denny Hamlin was cautious.
When asked if 23XI is in the ‘big three’, Denny Hamlin said, “It’s too early for that.” He continued, “I mean, we’re many wins and championships away from that. There’s no question that we’re building fast cars and cars that are capable of winning week in, week out. We don’t always hit the setup or things like that, but we’re working hard.”
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“This team being nonexistent six years ago is just amazing that we’re able to do what we did with building this thing from scratch and now having the results week in, week out that is contending with the big guys.”
Clearly, Denny Hamlin sees a long road ahead for his drivers. But the good work is encouraging nonetheless – let’s see if Dale Earnhardt gets a true match.