Amid the 19-year-old drought, Denny Hamlin misses out on an alternative to fulfill his NASCAR championship aspirations

Denny Hamlin is one of the greatest NASCAR drivers to never win a Cup Series championship. He’s on par with players like Junior Johnson and Mark Martin. The only difference in his case is that he still manages to maintain his pursuit of championship glory. In fact, the 2024 season is proving to be an interesting one for him, where he can fight for the title both as a driver and as a co-owner.

Will the 2024 season be his final attempt to fulfill his elusive dream? Probably not. But even if he doesn’t manage to conquer NASCAR’s highest peak this year, he has an alternative that will give him a similar feeling. And if 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick wins the championship, it would satisfy the veteran JGR driver’s hunger for competition.

Can you imagine Denny Hamlin losing the 2025 championship to Tyler Reddick?

Hamlin is notorious for his close relationship with NASCAR fans. Every year there are jokes: Will this be his year? And the HGR ace has gotten used to it. However, this time he’s fully focused on getting the job done by either driving the No. 11 Toyota Camry to the championship podium or ensuring the No. 45 Camry pulls off the big upset.

It’s hard to remember a moment from the races so far this season where Hamlin competed against his two drivers. The Talladega tragedy comes to mind during the spring race, but even then Hamlin didn’t force the issue. So will he allow Reddick to come out on top in a hypothetical championship race so that his title dreams fade again? Well, he can’t have it both ways, and if he fails on the 19th attempt, he’ll definitely want number 45 to be the one to pull off a miracle.

“I firmly believe that I have two chances to win a championship [as a driver and as an owner]and both will make me really happy this year,” Hamlin said in an interview with ESPN’s Kelly Crandall. Furthermore, he wants his two drivers to excel and reach new heights at 23XI Racing. He also created a roadmap book that he maintained throughout his career. And he plans to pass that playbook on to his drivers to help them avoid the mistakes he made over two decades in racing.

In just four years, the team has won seven NASCAR Cup Series and is on a par with the big boys. The No. 45 team even secured the regular season championship that year. For Hamlin, maintaining the balance between the two roles is a challenge, but he enjoys it. What’s surprising is that his racing hasn’t suffered a major decline despite the legal battle with NASCAR.

Hamlin reiterates 23XI Racing’s stance in charter dispute with NASCAR

After two years of negotiations and constant back and forth, the owners of 23XI Racing and NASCAR were unable to reach agreement on the signing of the charter agreement. All 13 Cup Series teams signed the contract on September 6, but FRM and 23XI Racing chose not to agree to NASCAR’s terms. Rather, the two teams took the matter to court and filed an antitrust lawsuit. Questioning NASCAR’s business model and calling them a monopoly with complete control over stock car racing.

For Hamlin and his partners, the racing team is also an investment, and they want a fair business offer from the government. They want a fair medium where they can get back the millions of dollars they have invested in the sport. “When I look around, I see that the best and most powerful sports in the world understand that when teams are successful, the fans benefit and that everyone who invests in the success of the sport should have a fair share in that success. With the right changes we can definitely make this happen in racing.” Denny Hamlin explained.

This legal dispute can drag on for a long period of time, which is why the owners of the two teams acted quickly and filed an injunction. Basically, it’s a legal permit that allows them to operate as chartered teams in 2025. With the current contract expiring at the end of 2024, they will not have a contract with NASCAR, putting them in a difficult situation where they could lose their charter. The two parties will appear in federal court by the end of October or the first week of next month.