Tyler Reddick is heading into the Circuit of the Americas this weekend with high zest. The defending winner of the race shows several signs of grabbing a win this weekend. But Denny Hamlin believes the 23XI newcomer may steal Reddick’s limelight.

NASCAR is growing wings and reaching lands far from American borders. A racing veteran from Japan is set to grace a Cup race for the second time this weekend. And Hamlin is very optimistic about his prospects which may beat Reddick’s.

Denny Hamlin expects great things out of the new 23XI racer

Before venturing into NASCAR, Kamui Kobayashi already had accolades up his sleeve. He is a two-time FIA World Endurance champion, and also the 2021 Le Mans 24 overall winner. Besides, he has made 75 Formula One starts, making his COTA prospects seem like a cakewalk. His team owner, Denny Hamlin, has further approved Kobayashi’s talents.

Recently, Hamlin spoke about his Japanese recruit’s mesmerizing speed on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. Hamlin commended both Reddick and Kobayashi’s skills, putting the latter in a tad higher position.

“I mean, he’s faster than Tyler, Tyler’s faster than me, and Tyler’s faster than everyone. When it comes to that, driving on the simulator on the road course, and he backed it up on the race track. But you know, Kamui has been faster, so far than him this week. I really think that he’s got the talent. We know he can do it. He races all kinds of different cars, all kinds of different road courses.”

Denny Hamlin further outlined Kobayashi’s improved chances as compared to last year’s 33rd finish in Indianapolis. “He had a bit of a tough go the first time at Indy, kinda got bounced around there a little bit, he didn’t qualify that well. But hopefully, it turns out to be a better result this time. We’re really optimistic with Mobil1 on the car, their 50th anniversary. Certainly, there’s a lot of optimism that Kamui can go out in the 3rd car and make some noise.”

Racing Insights projects Tyler Reddick as this year’s COTA winner. But the No 45 driver admitted to feeling jittery in front of his Japanese colleague’s performance in the Next Gen car. And with good reason too, as Kamui Kobayashi has learned from his mistakes last year, and done his homework for his second Cup outing. Recently, he drew a parallel between NASCAR Cup cars and other cars he had driven earlier.

Kobayashi observed some unique features of NASCAR

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Kamui Kobayashi has trained hard for COTA, practicing in simulators. While gaining momentum in the NASCAR world, the Japanese driver was quick to notice the subtle features of Cup cars. He has never driven an Australian Supercar but reckons NASCAR is similar to that. He outlined that Cup cars and GT3 cars can be worlds apart.

“We have ABS and traction control. With the Cup car, you really don’t have any sensors taking the data,” Kobayashi said. “I would say the techniques that I’ve learned are way different. When you look throughout different motorsports, you have BOP (balance of performance) and it’s easier for the driver to perform at everything, but in NASCAR, I think you have more of a demand. That’s why I’m happy to be here and challenging myself.”

Denny Hamlin is on point to believe in Kobayashi’s spectacular prospects. The Japanese veteran racer may soon catch up with the nitty-gritty of NASCAR and beat his 23XI teammates.

23XI Racing’s Japanese Recruit Lets Slip True Excitement Behind ‘Experienced’ COTA Return