It was only a matter of time until Denny Hamlin came door-to-door with the 23XI Racing team he co-owns with NBA legend Michael Jordan. After making his way up to second place for the final lap, the only driver ahead of the NASCAR Cup Series veteran and 59-race winner was Bubba Wallace, the first driver signed by 23XI Racing for their inaugural 2021 season.
After carrying some momentum off turn two, Hamlin sent his No. 11 Toyota aggressively into turn three, eventually pushing himself and Wallace out of the groove and allowing Chase Elliott to get around both to put Hendrick Motorsports and Chevrolet in victory lane.
While the win from Elliott was a sign of what can happen for the No. 9 team when they put a full weekend together, Hamlin's actions dropped Wallace from playoff advancement to below the cut line (-26). They instead benefitted his longtime rival Joey Logano, who clings to the final playoff spot (+13).
Denny Hamlin does not regret his actions at Kansas
When speaking on his "Actions Detrimental" podcast on Monday, Hamlin delivered some candid insight behind his decision-making on the final lap of Sunday's race, the middle race in the round of 12 of the playoffs, and made it clear that an apology should not be expected.
"If (listeners are) wanting an apology, they can turn it off now," Hamlin said, "because I'm racing for the win and I definitely won't apologize for racing for the win."
As Hamlin approaches the end of his career, he made it clear that he is a driver on Sundays.
"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," Hamlin said. "My responsibility is to get the 11 into the round of 8. I'm the driver on Sunday of that No. 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 (expletive). 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."
The irony of the situation is that it came one week after Hamlin got together with Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Ty Gibbs, who is not in the playoffs, after he felt Gibbs was racing him harder than he should have been, given the two very different positions they were in.
While that set the stage for what was sure to be an awkward team meeting, Hamlin once again showed that he is not letting anything get in the way of that elusive Cup Series championship, and that included fighting power steering issues in the closing laps of Sunday's race.
He may not enter the round of 12 cutoff race at the Charlotte Roval as the points leader, but a solid 48-point cushion gives him some breathing room to advance to the penultimate round, putting himself one step closer to another Championship 4 appearance.
As the 44-year-old recognizes his window for winning races and competing for championships is dwindling, he is showing no signs of slowing down, regardless of who he is racing against. Hamlin showed that once again at Kansas, barely making the corner as he pushed the car he co-owns wide while battling for the win.
Hamlin put himself first and did not let the owner/driver role get in the way of his decision-making, which should be appreciated amid all the criticism about teammates working together. While respect among teammates is important to keep in mind, Hamlin put the driver's hat on in that moment and only wanted to win for himself and Joe Gibbs Racing. He nearly made it work too, had it not been for a late push from Elliott to prevent him from doing so.