When Denny Hamlin started 23XI Racing back in 2021, a big pillar of their support was Joe Gibbs Racing. Fast forward a few years, and both have become equally reliant on each other. While Hamlin’s own team is experiencing more success than the team he represents as a driver, the veteran believes that 23XI and JGR are now a strong alliance.

Denny Hamlin on the current status between JGR and 23XI

Being a co-owner of a racing team and competing against a team that you helped get on the track is tough, but Hamlin has juggled that responsibility well. However, he has not done all of that without the help of his team at Joe Gibbs Racing.

In its initial years, Hamlin confirmed that a lot of the help in running 23XI came from JGR. But the Michael Jordan and Hamlin-owned team has started taking a lot of responsibility and is now providing its contributions to the alliance as well.

“I think that is a true alliance where information is going directly back and forth,” said Hamlin on the Actions Detrimental podcast. “They value this alliance because now they’ve got all the information right there is like, ‘Well, clearly that works, and that’s good. We didn’t know that.’ So, that just helps them advance.”

Hamlin’s driver, Tyler Reddick, grabbed the headlines with an impressive win in Darlington despite some complications during the race. Despite being the team owner, there are some things even Hamlin was not aware of leading up to the race.

“I wasn’t aware that they were in a different place, a place far away from where we were until the weekend,” said Hamlin. “But again, we’re guessing, maybe we’re thinking, ‘These guys are crazy, there’s no way that’s going to work.’ I don’t know.”

Hamlin’s competitive drive means he is not ready to allow even his own team any advantage during the race. This has been proven in past races as well.

Hamlin isn’t always supporting 23XI during a week

During the Cup race at Kansas last season, Denny Hamlin battled against his own driver, Bubba Wallace, to take the checkered flag despite knowing that he could’ve allowed the 23XI Racing driver to win. However, he later set the record straight about his priorities on Sundays.

“On Sunday, I’m the driver of the No. 11 car and not the owner of the 23 car. That’s where the disconnect is,” he said. “I think, where it comes from is that people expect me to be a different person. Because I’m racing for the win. And I definitely won’t apologize for racing for the win.”

He acknowledged the fact that this was one of the reasons Gibbs was paying him well motivated him to keep those sentiments behind him.

He certainly fell short in Darlington, but when NASCAR heads to Martinsville Speedway, Hamlin will be hoping to bounce back and help JGR get the win.