Denny Hamlin diagnoses issues for 23XI’s Bubba Wallace, Tyler Reddick at Texas

Denny Hamlin broke down the issues his 23XI Racing drivers, Bubba Wallace and Tyler Reddick, had at Texas Motor Speedway. On the Actions Detrimental podcast, Hamlin revealed why Wallace and Reddick didn’t finish strong on Sunday.

“There were running fifth and sixth or fourth and sixth,” Denny Hamlin said about Bubba Wallace and Tyler Reddick. “I thought Bubba’s car actually was pretty strong as well. But it just seemed like the restarts for the 23XI cars just were not good enough. It didn’t seem like they were great in traffic.”

Along with the tough restarts, Wallace was collected in a wreck at Lap 172 that ultimately ended his day. Before the wreck, Wallace restarted at seventh and earned a P33 finish.

Tyler Reddick ran all 271 laps at Texas but couldn’t find a way back in the front of the field. He earned a P21 finish, and it’s the third consecutive race he hasn’t finished in the top 10.

More on Bubba Wallace and Tyler Reddick’s day at Texas

Hamlin was asked if there was something Reddick could have done differently on the restarts. “I don’t know if it was a car capability thing,” he said. “I know that they fought restarts a little bit last year. …It’s tough to say. Is it air pressure? It could be all kinds of different things, and we’ll talk about it here later.”

After the race, Wallace took full responsibility for the wreck. “Man, Charles (Denike, crew chief), we had a nice talk after I got out of the car and they just laid out all the positives that we went through this weekend,” Wallace said, per NASCAR.com. “So, that’s what we’re going to hold our heads to. I hate that I got into the fence. I was trying to give the 22 (Joey Logano) room, and then just got the wall and started chaos. So hate it for my team and everybody involved. But, man, we were making progress from the start of the weekend and it was going to shape up to be a good day. But nothing’s ever for certain. So it is what it is.”

Wallace and Reddick have yet to win a race this year but would make the playoffs if it started today. In the current playoff standings, Reddick is in ninth place and Wallace sits in the 11 spot.