Denny Hamlin breaks down mindset racing Bubba Wallace for win, points to late restarts at Kansas

Denny Hamlin was racing for the win in Sunday’s Round of 12 race at Kansas Speedway, it didn’t matter who was standing in his way. As things would play out, it was him and 23XI Racing driver Bubba Wallace fighting for the win on the last lap of overtime.
Hamlin is Wallace’s boss during the week. On Sunday, Wallace is just another competitor and Hamlin raced him as such. Hamlin washed up the track in Turn 3, making contact with Wallace who brushed the wall. It lost the race for both of them as Chase Elliott drove by on the bottom to take the checkered flag. While Wallace was frustrated with Hamlin after the race, flipping him the middle finger, Hamlin said it’s not his responsibility to get 23XI into the Round of 8 of the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.
“On Sunday, I am the driver. The person in the 11 car is the driver,” Hamlin said on Monday’s Actions Detrimental podcast. “That’s where the disconnect, I think, comes from, is that people expect me to be a different person. They expect me to be the guy with the 23XI shirt on when I’m in the 11 car, and that’s just not possible. It’s not possible. My responsibilities as team owner come Monday through Saturday. Like, it is not up to me to get 23XI into the Round of 8, if that makes any sense. That’s not my responsibility. My responsibility is to get the 11 into the Round of 8. I’m the driver on Sunday of that 11. Joe [Gibbs] pays me a lot of money to make sure that that car wins a championship or has a shot to.
“And I mean, could you imagine the outrage if I had just backed off and let him have it? Holy sh*t. People would lose their minds. But instead, I think Bubba said it very accurately — we were going for the win. Both guys were going for the win.”
Denny Hamlin won’t apologize for racing for the win at Kansas
Wallace badly needed a win at Kansas after a disappointing performance the week prior at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. He came into the race minus-27 below the playoff cutline and even after finishing fifth at Kansas, he only made up a single point. Wallace now faces a near must-win situation this Sunday at the Charlotte ROVAL. Wallace has never won on a road course.
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That’s part of where the frustration comes from for Wallace, but Hamlin wanted this one bad, too. He led a race-high 159 laps, and he was looking for win No. 60 of his Cup career. Hamlin was racing for the win and that, he won’t apologize for.
“My mentality into the last corner was, I hope I win,” Hamlin said. “I’ve got 70 races left in my career. Three opportunities left to win a championship. I can win a championship as an owner for decades. The window is closing. Sixty is right in front of me at the track I got my very first start.
“Like, I want to be sympathetic, and I am sympathetic, and I hate it that the 23 is below the cut, but 23XI ran like dogsh*t at f*cking New Hampshire and that’s why they’re below the cut. And I hate that for the drivers because unfortunately they had to drive that.”