‘The best overall team right now,’ Denny Hamlin full of praise for Tyler Reddick’s 23XI crew after Kansas thriller

The NASCAR Cup Series garage received a major reality check ahead of its upcoming superspeedway matchup. 23XI Racing co-owner Denny Hamlin reported that his star driver, Tyler Reddick, is currently piloting the absolute best team in the sport.

After Reddick secured his fifth victory of the 2026 season in stunning fashion at Kansas Speedway, the veteran driver-turned-owner didn’t mince words about the sheer dominance his young protégé is displaying on the track. Reddick isn’t just winning; he is executing with a level of precision that is leaving traditional powerhouse organizations scrambling for answers.

By snatching a late-race victory away from Hendrick Motorsports heavyweight Kyle Larson, Reddick became the fourth driver to claim five victories through just nine races. To put that into perspective, he is matching win totals that echo the legendary pace of Dale Earnhardt, putting a massive target on the back of his No. 45 Toyota Camry XSE.

The emphatic praise comes from the latest episode of the Actions Detrimental podcast, where Hamlin broke down exactly how his driver stole the show. Speaking with the candidness fans have come to expect from the Dirty Mo Media production, Hamlin offered an unfiltered look at why Reddick’s recent performances are terrifying the rest of the field. As a fierce competitor himself who actually led a race-high 78 laps at Kansas before finishing fourth, Hamlin had a front-row seat to watch his employee snatch the checkered flag by a razor-thin 0.118-second margin.

1. Mastering the Late-Race Heroics

If you look at the box score from Kansas Speedway, the numbers paint a fascinating picture of modern stock car racing. Reddick started from the pole position and spent the entire afternoon lurking comfortably inside the top five. However, he led only 10 total laps. Instead of dominating the entire 274-lap event, the 23XI Racing crew utilized a blend of calculated strategy and pure late-race heroics to get the job done. Hamlin was quick to point out that this efficiency is exactly what separates good teams from championship contenders. “I feel like he hasn’t really led that many laps. It’s an incredible start, and he’s doing it by executing," Hamlin explained on his podcast. “He’s doing it by late-race heroics. They’re just executing well, right? I mean, you don’t have a 5.0 average finish even when he doesn’t win.”

2. The Unique Dynamic Between Boss and Driver

It is a remarkably rare and entertaining dynamic to watch an owner actively compete against his own driver for a Cup Series championship. In Kansas, Hamlin looked like the man to beat for a vast majority of the race. He put on a masterclass in navigating the intermediate track, only for a late caution flag to completely flip the script. When the dust settled in overtime, it was Reddick who executed the perfect pass on Kyle Larson, leaving his boss to settle for a frustrating, yet respectable, fourth-place finish. Yet, despite the competitive sting of losing a race he controlled, the business side of Hamlin couldn’t be happier. Back in March, ahead of the Martinsville race, he openly referred to Reddick as an “elite driver” and emphasized the importance of 23XI Racing securing his talents early. Reddick has undoubtedly lived up to those lofty expectations. Even during off weeks, he manages to drag his car into the top ten, a hallmark trait of a driver ready to make a serious run at the Bill France Cup.

3. Preparing for the Chaos of Talladega

Looking ahead, the momentum surrounding 23XI Racing could not be peaking at a better time. The NASCAR Cup Series now turns its attention to the unpredictable chaos of Talladega Superspeedway for the Jack Link’s 500. Racing at Talladega is the equivalent of a high-speed lottery, where a single mistake can trigger a multi-car pileup that wipes out half the field. However, Hamlin feels incredibly confident about his team’s chances at the 2.66-mile behemoth in Alabama. On the podcast, he issued a subtle warning to the rest of the garage: “But we’re going to a super speedway this weekend, where Tyler Reddick was the number one point scorer on super speedways last year. So they’re the best overall team right now. And that’s just not looking at the scorecard. That’s just kind of all-encompassing.” With the Alabama Gang 100 weekend looming, the entire NASCAR world will be watching to see if Reddick can extend this historic streak. If he can survive the drafting madness of Talladega and maintain this blistering pace, the rest of the Cup Series might be fighting for second place for the remainder of the year.

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• Denny Hamlin
• Tyler Reddick