Denny Hamlin reveals bittersweet emotions after Bubba Wallace Brickyard 400 victory

On Sunday, Denny Hamlin became a Brickyard 400 winner…as a team owner. His driver, Bubba Wallace, got the win. Hamlin is still searching for his first Brickyard win to complete his NASCAR Crown Jewel collection. But this is the next best thing.

For Denny Hamlin, it can be bittersweet to lose out on the one race he wants to win the most, only to see your driver win it in the end. Wallace put together a complete race that included a double overtime dogfight with Kyle Larson.

As a team owner, Hamlin is taking the role of the proud parent. This is the first Crown Jewel win for Bubba and for 23XI Racing. It punches the 23 team’s ticket to the postseason. Even though he couldn’t get the trophy himself, Hamlin will gladly accept this result.

Hamlin was asked about the “bittersweet” reality of it all. He is taking it all in stride and appreciating every moment.

“Yeah, I mean, because I had a role in it. I helped mentor these guys, and you know, they’re in my brain every single Monday and Tuesday,” Denny Hamlin said after the race. “I’m trying to do all I can to teach them all the tricks in the book that I have. So, I know that there’s a part of me out there. You know, it’s not my car number, and it sucks it’s not my team, team 11 out there doing it. But I’m still very gratified because truthfully, I took our chances of winning out yesterday. I knew the possibility of winning from the back here was so small. And not only that, I knew the car that we had was not going to be nearly as fast as what we had yesterday.

“So, you know, I was just content with getting a good finish. Then I hoped that one of the 23XI cars that qualified up front could execute a good day. And it looked like the 23 and 45 executed a good day. 35 looked like he had speed, just couldn’t get over the hump. So, I’m still very gratified. Just because of the weekend, and I knew, I mean, I’m sitting back there after qualifying in the car thinking, well, I’ve only got two more chances. Like, I knew I had blown this chance for this weekend because of all the obstacles to try to win from the back. You know, without luck, it’s nearly impossible. So, you know, this was the next best result.”

Bubba Wallace is a Brickyard 400 winner. Denny Hamlin gets to celebrate another one as a team owner. Now the focus is to get Tyler Reddick to Victory Lane and make a couple of deep playoff runs.