Denny Hamlin is kind of amused on the considered winning the 2024 NASCAR Cup championship in the midst of his team – 23XI Racing's – legal battle with the series and essentially the most powerful family in all of NASCAR.
“Yeah, honestly, I wish I had that problem (laughter),” Hamlin said last weekend. “I all the time say if you could have an issue, you cross that bridge while you get there, nevertheless it's an issue I’d like to have, but I understand the responsibilities of a champion and positively, knowing what I represent, I feel I’d have the option to do a very good job, separating these two things.
A hearing to come to a decision whether 23XI Racing will have the option to take care of its charter while the lawsuit is pending shall be held on November 4 – just days before the title decision in Phoenix. NASCAR has made it clear it doesn't want that to occur.
It hasn't been easy for Hamlin on or off the track these days, and his dream of winning his first Cup title in 19 years of trying with NASCAR is beginning to appear to be a really difficult task. The most impressive a part of his 2024 playoffs is the incontrovertible fact that he continues to be in it.
After losing nearly half of his bonus points as a consequence of an engine penalty just before the postseason arrived, Hamlin was already ready where there was no room for error. Yet many mistakes were made. Conservative strategies are backfiring, with multiple incidents and countless mistakes on pit road hampering his 2024 playoff appearance.
Las Vegas was no exception, and the incontrovertible fact that he risked fuel consumption to complete eighth after such a sloppy race was actually quite an achievement. The #11 pit crew struggled throughout the day and the automotive itself wasn't very fast. However, this ending won't be adequate for this round. Hamlin is already 27 points below the road.
Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing, Yahoo! Toyota Camry
Photo: John Harrelson / NKP / Motorsport Images
“It wasn't a clean day,” Hamlin admitted later. “That certainly sums it up. You will have it. We did everything we could to get the best possible result. I thought, Chris [Gabehart, crew chief] he did a great job to get some end result. When we lost track position early, he did everything he could to regain it with strategy, and then it took a long time and we fell back. Just a part.”
Hamlin continued: “We're not as strong as we were initially of the 12 months and we're definitely not as clean execution-wise as we were before. We'll just should clean it up, go to Homestead and check out to win It.”
Hamlin advanced to the semifinal round of the playoffs in each 2022 and 2023, but missed the Final Four by single digits each times. The idea of him winning the title with a lawsuit happening within the background could be a dream come true for Hamlin, but for now it's only a dream.
