Denny Hamlin did not win the Southern 500 on Sunday night, but he left Darlington Raceway with a championship.
Hamlin is a co-owner of 23XI Racing with Michael Jordan, and the team won the regular-season championship after Tyler Reddick finished the season as points leader. On X, Hamlin shared a selfie of himself with Jordan, Reddick, and the award. “Finally won a championship… as an owner,” Hamlin wrote in the post. Of course, Hamlin wants to win a championship as a driver, but winning one as an owner is significant, especially for a young team. Before the race, Hamlin discussed how much a regular-season championship would mean to him as an owner.
“It means a lot. I mean, I’m pretty happy of what we’ve done over there [at 23XI Racing], and starting from zero has not been simple; many things take time,” Hamlin said on the Actions Detrimental podcast.
“Although we may have, there are probably things on the list right now that say, ‘Okay, here’s what I want my competition department to focus on next.’
That project might take a year or two to complete, right? We are now building our pit crew facilities, which will take another three months. It will be completed on schedule, precisely when the season ends. So, like, things take time.
Finally won a championship*
*As an owner pic.twitter.com/JSzWozCnIt
— Denny Hamlin (@dennyhamlin) September 2, 2024
Denny Hamlin talks about growth of 23XI Racing
“So, when I said it would take five years to build a championship-caliber organization, I knew it was a credible estimate.
While it appears to be easier to do it faster, it is not because creating this thing from scratch is difficult because you lack – if you want to start a new department, you must locate talent, and we will not recruit people just to hire them; we will ensure they are the right people. I feel Dave Rodgers and his entire team, the competition department, have done an outstanding job of placing the right people in the right situations to win.
Hamlin and Jordan established 23XI Racing in 2020. Bubba Wallace became the team’s first driver and won its first race at Talladega in 2021. Reddick joined the team in 2023 and has won four races over the last two seasons.
