$65M-worth Denny Hamlin reacts to Michael Jordan's encouragement message to Bubba Wallace

Denny Hamlin recently discussed his team's co-owner, Michael Jordan's support to drivers like Bubba Wallace.

Hamlin and former basketball star Michael Jordan's NASCAR team, 23XI Racing currently operates two No. 23 and 45 Toyota teams for drivers Bubba Wallace and Tyler Reddick. While Reddick is leading the standings, Wallace still needs a boost to qualify for the post-season.

Bubba Wallace mentioned on a recent podcast appearance that Michael Jordan sent him a supportive text after the Daytona race last Saturday. Hamlin was asked in a recent media session at Darlington if Jordan gives him similar encouragement. He responded by praising Jordan for backing Wallace’s career.

"Of course. I mean, I think that, knowing that he’s got your back, Michael’s been very supportive of Bubba and his whole career. You know, we gave him an opportunity four years ago, and he is with an organization that is on the rise very, very quickly. He knows that. So, when you heard comments like he said last week about, he’s got one battling for the championship and one on the bubble and that’s not acceptable, he’s taken responsibility for that," Hamlin said (07:56).

Wallace finished 6th last week at Daytona and is 17th in the standings before the final regular-season race. He is 21 points behind Chris Buescher and needs a strong performance at the Darlington Raceway to make the playoffs.

Denny Hamlin added that he is happy with Wallace's current progress and future potential.

"So, I think that he knows where he needs to improve, but I’m very, very pleased with where he’s at right now and where he’s going to go,' he said (08:30).

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"Winning is counting for too much" - Denny Hamlin on the current points system

Denny Hamlin thinks the points system puts too much weight on wins because racing has many unpredictable elements. He feels regular-season wins are more valued more.

When asked if he would like to see a points system that rewards wins more, Hamlin replied:

"I think it's kind of backwards. Winning is counting for too much because there are so many variables in our sport that we don’t always control. I think you have to account for a bigger sample size to get your true data point” (11:28).

"Think about it like this: Harrison Burton's win meant more in the regular season than had he won in the playoffs. It meant more for him to win just a regular-season race than if he had won during the playoffs,” he added (10:56).

Denny Hamlin recently lost 10 playoff points due to a penalty and is eighth in the standings with 3 wins this season.