"That was a good sign for us" - Denny Hamlin reflects on his 23XI Racing team's performance from Loudon

23XI's co-owner Denny Hamlin had a fruitful racing weekend at Pocono Raceway, piloting his #11 FedEx Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing at the pole position on Saturday before sealing the M&M’s Fan Appreciation 400 with a win that was later overturned.

His team, 23XI Racing, also had a good run in the qualifying race, with both drivers getting to the second stage of qualifying. Bubba Wallace Jr. finished seventh while Kurt Busch crashed during the final run.

Before hitting the Tricky Triangle over the weekend, the 23XI team had a very successful run in New Hampshire. Bubba Wallace Jr. brought home a P4 during the qualifying race and scored a top-five finish the following day, finishing in P3.

Kurt Busch finished P10, locking both 23XI cars in the top ten. In a recent interview, Denny Hamlin expressed his satisfaction with the performance of 23XI. According to him, the recent impressive performance of the 23XI team is a good sign for the team.

Speaking to the media, Hamlin said:

“That was a good sign for us, those mile tracks, when I think about Phoenix and the nightmare that that was for all the Toyotas and our team in particular, it’s a good sign to go back to Loudon that it's similar, not exactly the same but similar to tracks that you’re gonna need to be good at in the playoffs.”

The first half of the season was pretty tough for the team as a whole, recording wrecks race after race. Bubba Wallace Jr. recorded only one top-ten finish with a couple of DNFs, while Busch managed to secure numerous top-ten finishes, including a win at Kansas.

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Denny Hamlin's car was disqualified at Pocono Raceway

Denny Hamlin was also facing tough times, recording over four DNFs in the first half of the season, but the tide started turning in the second-half of the regular season. Despite having collected the checkered flag at Pocono Raceway on Sunday, Hamlin had his worst result since Nashville.

After a post-race inspection of his #11 Toyota TRD, NASCAR disqualified Hamlin.

Denny Hamlin and Ross Chastain were at it again on Sunday, but this time around, Chastain was the one who was left spinning after the two made contact. After a long day, Hamlin led his teammate Kyle Busch to a 1-2 finish, giving Joe Gibbs Racing much to celebrate.

However, after NASCAR’s inspection, the two cars were disqualified due to aerodynamics issues, and they will be handed to NASCAR’s R&D Center for further inspection. Hence, despite having crossed the finish line first, Hamlin only posted a P35 finish at the end of the day.