While the pole-sitter didn’t get the finish he envisioned at Darlington, Denny Hamlin is happy to come away with a calm finish. No drama needed for the NASCAR veteran and his 23XI Racing drivers in the Playoffs. All three managed to secure solid results on the track.
Denny Hamlin, Bubba Wallace, and Tyler Reddick all earned stage points. They also all brought home top-10 finishes. Reddick was the best of the trio, finishing P2 behind Chase Briscoe, who dominated the race.
After the finish, Hamlin spoke to the media about the solid day at Darlington. He felt like he could have contended for the win, but we’ll never know.
“You know, good day all around for 23XI, good day for us from a points standpoint,” Hamlin said, via Frontstretch. “I wish we would have executed better to kind of see where we stacked up. You’ll have that . But overall, you gotta come out of days like today unscathed and obviously, the three of us have.”
So, how does Denny Hamlin feel about the next two races this round? Well, he’s not counting his chickens before they hatch. Still, getting out of Darlington without a major issue is a massive bonus.
“Yeah, I mean, anything can happen,” Hamlin explains. “The guys that had a bad day today, they could have a bad day next week. You just never know. But certainly, it lets you not panic, and certainly will allow you to have a bit more poise when you head into these next couple of races.”
Denny Hamlin came out of the Southern 500 +43 points on the cutline. Tyler Reddick is +35 and Bubba Wallace is +25. That is about a race worth of points that they have to work with.
Gateway is a wildcard track. We have seen Team Penske be really good there. RCR and Kyle Busch won there in 2023. If Austin Dillon were somehow able to pull off another upset win, it would put a wrench into somebody’s postseason plans, for sure.
The Southern 500 was not as kind to others as it was to the Toyotas. You have Joey Logano, Austin Dillon, Alex Bowman, and Josh Berry all below the cutline between -3 and -19 points. So, not an impossible deficit to make up, but a challenging one for sure.
9th to 16th place are separated by 31 points. In two races, a lot can happen and the standings can easily become jumbled up from what they are right now. Who will capitalize on the next two weeks and advance to the Round of 12?
