Denny Hamlin refused to comment on the statement that 23XI Racing recently posted (on X, formerly Twitter) regarding them not meeting the deadline to sign the new charter agreement. 23XI Racing, a race team jointly owned by Hamlin and former NBA star Michael Jordan, is currently in its fourth year at the Cup level.
The current charter contract ends at the end of the current season. After months of negotiations, NASCAR has agreed to a charter deal for 2025 and beyond. However, according to a statement by 23XI Racing, NASCAR has not given the Toyota team enough time to "fairly bargain" for a new charter contract.
Here is the statement by 23XI Racing:
When asked by journalist Peter Stratta what the Joe Gibbs Racing driver thought of the charter conflict, Hamlin said:
"I think it was all covered by the statement. I don't really have anything else to add. Obviously, I'm here to try to win for my 11 team; that's certainly the focus when I come to the racetrack."
Besides 23XI Racing, Front Row Motorsports has also decided not to meet NASCAR's timeline of signing the piece, which has an anti-disparagement clause this time. The clause, said Hamlin, was meant to keep the teams from speaking negatively of the organization.
"They do not want you speaking negatively. That's a new add to the charter agreement," Hamlin said on a recent episode of his Actions Detrimental podcast. "NASCAR's got their stance and the teams have theirs. We'll just see where this goes the next few weeks."
NASCAR has been pushing the teams to sign the deal before the playoffs began. With 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports holding up, will NASCAR extend the deadline?
Denny Hamlin disappointed with NASCAR's regular-season trophy presentation
23XI Racing driver Tyler Reddick clinched the regular season championship in last Sunday's Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway, beating Hendrick Motorsports ace Kyle Larson by merely a point. Winning the regular season championship will give Reddick a 15-point cushion every time he qualifies for a round in the playoffs.
It was also 23XI Racing's first regular-season championship. However, nobody from NASCAR was present that day to hand the trophy over to Reddick. Denny Hamlin was not happy about it.
As per a statement by Jenna Fryer of the Associated Press, Hamlin said,
"It was pretty disappointing no one from NASCAR presented (Reddick) with his regular season trophy."
NASCAR is less than a day away from running the first race of the Round of 16 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Fans can watch the 260-lap race live on NBC and USA from 3 PM ET onwards. They can also listen to radio updates on PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.