Denny Hamlin and almost everyone at Joe Gibbs Racing believes that the No. 11 Toyota driver may be at the peak of his powers currently. While Joe Gibbs and Co. don’t want Hamlin to retire, the driver's set himself a 2027 deadline. 

While Hamlin confirmed that the 2027 season would be the end of his full-time Cup series career, some believe Hamlin may be about to make a shift that people would predict as natural. 

Hamlin is a co-owner at 23XI Racing with Michael Jordan, and there are talks that Hamlin could appear in a 23XI car when he retires. But two NASCAR insiders believe that would've happened by now if it had to.

On the Rubbin is Racing podcast, host Large refuted that Hamlin would win a championship if he were driving for 23XI. He said, “If he wins a championship, he’s winning a championship with Joe Gibbs Racing and everything that goes along with that. No matter how good 23XI has been this year, going into a 23XI car is a step down.”

23XI has won more races this year than Joe Gibbs Racing, with Reddick’s 5 wins to Hamlin’s 3 (2 points races) and Ty Gibbs’ Bristol win making it 4 for JGR. Despite that, Large and a lot of the NASCAR insiders believe that 23XI isn’t a premier team yet like JGR is. 

Host Spider asked some questions on the podcast, which brought up several valid points. “Don’t you think he would have already made the jump to 23XI? Why wouldn’t he be driving Riley Herbst’s car the last two years? Why wouldn’t you go down the Brad K route? To me if he was going to drive for 23XI, it already would have happened.”

While Spider believes that Hamlin would have already been in the 23XI car if that was his plan, Large threw a perspective on what would keep Hamlin going next.

Large believes Hamlin will express competitiveness differently post JGR

On the podcast, Large revealed he had played mini golf with Hamlin recently and saw how competitive he was, even with the little things like who gets the bag first. 

Hamlin is currently at the peak of his form, and he has often said that’s how he wants to leave. He himself said that he doesn’t want to be a has-been but wants to leave when people believe he can still do it. Not a lot of athletes get to leave on the kind of high Hamlin is planning. 

Large alluded to the fact that Hamlin is competitive in everything he does, hinting that when he retires, he’ll still be competitive but in a different manner. 

Large said, “I don’t know where he walks away. The only thing that I can see outside of him is maybe driving for 23XI, which is obviously a possibility. I don't know if that happens, if he can be busy with 23XI itself as an owner. Like he can surround himself with being competitive in that way.”

While everything on Hamlin’s future is currently speculation, it’s sure that Hamlin’s next role in NASCAR will be intertwined in some way with 23XI, be it as a part-time driver or a more involved owner with the competitive driver mentality entering the 23XI think tank.

You can read more on the Daytona Racing Digest!

Written by

Debrup Chaudhuri

Edited by

Suyashdeep Sason