TOYOTA RACING – Denny Hamlin & Tyler Reddick
NASCAR Cup Series Quotes
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (August 28, 2026) – Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin and 23XI Racing driver Tyler Reddick were made available to the media on Friday prior to the NASCAR Cup Series race from Daytona International Speedway.
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 Progressive Insurance Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing
TYLER REDDICK, No. 45 Jordan Brand Toyota Camry XSE, 23XI Racing
Should there have been practice this weekend with the rules change in the aero package?
Denny Hamlin: “Probably. But it would have been a decent learning experience, but I don’t think the fans miss out on anything. I think that we would have just been in really small packs, kind of, with our manufacturers. So, you didn’t miss anything from an entertainment standpoint, but something from a learning, yeah, possibly.”
How do you think you’re going to see the race change as people start to understand the new package?
Denny Hamlin: “I would say, it’s tough to say how it would change. I don’t think it’s gonna change a lot from a normal speedway race that typically at the beginning, I think there’s usually a transition of, it’s aggressive, people are trying to get track position. It settles in and then gets really aggressive in the last part. So, I think that the pack will have a vibe to it that will play off of how comfortable everyone feels in the car, around other cars. So, I think that the intensity level of the actual race is gonna be dependent of that comfort level.”
What races are you looking forward to in the Chase?
Denny Hamlin: “All of them? It’s the short answer. I think it starts with Darlington. That’s a track where I’ve not been my best over the last couple races there. So, I’m trying to get the performance back where we expect to be at that racetrack. So that’s the number one focus for me at the moment.”
Can you speak about the challenges of running a 500-mile race at Darlington?
Tyler Reddick: “I mean, for me, I love it. You know, just how tricky that track is to get around, for me. I feel like I have a really good comfort running up the racetrack there. I’ve continued to try and find ways to make speed in other places around there, but just the way it kind of plays out because the tires wear out you’ve got to run really close to the wall in (turns) three and four. We have to play the games in (turns) one and two, trying to get up to the wall and not smoke it. So, just kind of how it’s been with the Next Gen car here. It took a little time to really sort out, but I don’t know, for me, I love every lap of it, every mile. It’s a lot of fun. The way the track cools off and picks up grip. Just the way it works out, I wish some of the runs were longer throughout the race itself, but yeah, it’s one of those where I feel like it just, it goes on and on and on, and it’s fun trying to find ways to stay locked in for all 500 miles just right on the edge.”
Denny Hamlin: “Yeah, the track just changes quite a bit from really even the first run, the second run to the 10th run. It’s all different. So, kind of understanding what the car and how it’s gonna react even if you change nothing during the course of that 500 miles, it’s something that experience really helps in understanding.”
Is it a track and a race that you have to physically prepare more for because you’re in the car for such an extended period of time?
Denny Hamlin: “I mean, yes, just the hydration. I don’t prepare any other way. Every week, I do the best I can, but that one in particular, I force feed myself more than what I feel like my stomach would want me to, because it is. It’s gonna be one where you’ll be drained at the end of it. To me, it’s probably the most physically demanding track, just simply because mentally, your mind is always wired really, really high there so that raises your heart rate at that racetrack anyway. So that added with the distance of the actual race, you’re gonna burn the most calories you’ll burn all year.”
Tyler Reddick: “Yeah, I think that’s very fair. What he (Denny Hamlin) said there about that is so true at a place like that. I’ve went there, I remember early in my career, just running, ripping and you’re like, alright, we’re halfway. It’s like, holy cow. I think for me, the hydration piece is an obvious one that with that race the temperatures can be pretty high up in the middle of the day. I think for me, just normally the timing of the race – if we stay overnight, Saturday to Sunday, that’s one where if we’re not driving up Sunday morning, I’m finding a way to get an extra nap in, and I normally don’t do the naps. So that’s one of those where a little extra sleep and hydration is key.”
Do you feel like your team is back in a place to make a run in the Chase?
Tyler Reddick: “I think we all would have loved to have seen a few just clean weekends. From that standpoint, going into it, I think for us, we had a lot of things, from mistakes and just wild things happening on the racetrack. A lot came our way over the summer months, but you can go back and look at the results and it’s like, wow, they were really off. But, for us, just the fight that we continue to put up in those situations – just even the last two weeks with Richmond and Loudon. We qualified bad at Richmond, going nowhere in the beginning of that race. And we just, we get to pit road and from that point on we were on it. For us to kind of climb out of that, at Richmond that way, and then get trapped the lap down when we hit pit road and we bounced back from that. Had the issue with the wheel and still drive back up. So, all that was really good stuff. And Louden, a lot of the same story. Obviously, that one was 1000% on me, spinning out on lap one, but the team stayed committed. It’s nice to be able to – you’re going to have mistakes. You’re going to have things happen you’re not ready for in the Chase. And we kind of have a summer of mistakes and just crazy situations that we’ve fought through all of them. So, I feel like when we get to the Chase and if there is anything that comes our way, we’re absolutely ready for it. But on the other hand, I would have loved to have a couple normal, just like clean races, but the nice thing is we’re going to Darlington, a place where my confidence is sky high. The team going in there every time is just absolutely on cloud nine. I’m glad that the Chase starts in Darlington for us.”
Do you feel that the beginning of the Chase is a reset?
Tyler Reddick: “Well, I mean, it is. Whether mentally you want to look at it that way, but actually, it is as well on the points. It’s a good and a bad thing, you know? All the points we’ve worked — me and Denny (Hamlin) worked really hard for in the regular season, to an extent, kind of gets erased. And so, it gives everyone that’s behind us the chance. Those that felt like we can’t get to them, by the end of the regular season are now within striking distance right away. So, it’s got to make them hungry. I think for us, and how our summer has went, from a mental side, it’s nice to kind of have that reset too. So, we’re just gonna go in there and take it one race at a time, sort of like we did the beginning of the year. Just try and stay in it.”
Denny Hamlin: “The system is set up to allow those that are behind to catch up. That’s kind of what it has been, and we’ve seen some guys go on some great runs. You think about Tony Stewart. Back in the day, when they barely get on the Chase, and then they go on a run, and they’re crowned for the full season champion. It’s an opportunity for everyone. They’re going to try to take advantage of that. And so, you just have to bring your best every Chase, every playoff, and understand that you’ve done really well during the regular season. But you’re going to have to find that little bit of extra notch that is required at this point in the year. With the reset, it’s even more important, but you got to be better.”
Is there any change in personnel and resources at 23XI for the drivers who make the Chase?
Denny Hamlin: “You never know if somebody gets into a slump or something like that, but barring any injuries, I think that these guys ride with who they’ve got. There’s something to say about the chemistry. There’s sometimes that it’s obviously different reasons while teams will put different guys in place for cars that need – is racing for a championship. Or towards the end of the regular season, they’ll put them in for a team trying to make a playoff push or a Chase push. I don’t foresee that with them with the 23 and the 45 team. I think they’re both kind of getting where we need them to be at the right time. I would have maybe given you a different answer four or five months ago, but overall, I feel pretty happy with where they’re at. Really, the pit crew’s job is just let these guys win the race on the racetrack. And their job is to be the offensive line and keep the quarterback from getting sacked.”
Is Tyler Reddick your biggest competition in the Chase?
Denny Hamlin: “The biggest competition, I think probably the way the tracks layout, probably. I think that our strengths are really his strengths. I think we have lots of intermediates. I would say that he’s usually the standard of speed when it comes to intermediates. And so, yeah, you’d probably say so from a statistical standpoint. Again, you just never know week to week and obviously my teammates have gotten hot here recently and had some good runs. But as we’ve seen with the schedule, you go with the schedule. Let’s start back with me. I was okay, getting through the very beginning of the season. We got road courses, just survived. You get to the meat of my best tracks, that’s where we made up all of our points. Penske gets into a very favorable part of their schedule, what they’re good at, they make up a bunch of points. Now we’re switching into a different time. And so, now, everyone has the ability to make gains and tracks that maybe they’re not so strong at, but this thing goes in waves. And your competition can change just based off of what racetrack you’re going to this week versus next.”
Can you speak to the dynamic between the two of you as you race for a championship against each other but you’re also team owner and driver at 23XI?
Denny Hamlin: “Yeah, it is, but we’ve been racing for a championship with each other for a couple of years now, and really what makes myself strong is I can use Tyler (Reddick) as an asset to, okay, here’s what I think my car is, clearly that’s what my car is capable of doing on speed. So, I need to then diagnose how I need to get that speed out of it. And for him, it’s, well, what should I look for here or there? So, I think it’s the reason, for the bulk of the season, we were one, two, is that you had two people that were comparing notes and getting better. And so, I think that if you continue to do that, then I think you’re all for just fighting it out amongst yourselves.”
Tyler Reddick: ”Yeah, exactly.”
Do you have any comments on Dolly Parton’s passing this week after running a paint scheme in Bristol associated with her a couple years ago?
Tyler Reddick: “Yeah, I know that was – I wasn’t expecting that – the passing, obviously. My thoughts are with her and her family and her friends. I remember that Saturday morning for that race, she was wanting to come to the race. It didn’t work out where she could make it. So, she got in touch with our people. She’s like, I gotta send Tyler a video, pump him up for the race. And so, yeah, I just remember I’m sitting there on Saturday getting ready to go to the driver’s meeting, whatever it was, and someone said, hey, Dolly, put together a video for you she wanted you to see before you got in the car to kind of pump me up. I didn’t get to spend much time with her, but it was really cool that we did what we did at Bristol. The fact that she was wanting and willing to do something like that to get us ready for the race, kind of speaks to the type of person that I think a lot of people in the world knew her as. Just like I said, thinking of her and her family. She made a huge impact on a lot of individuals and I really enjoyed being able to run the car for her. I had the wig on and everything. Yeah, we had a lot of fun that weekend with it and her and her people enjoyed it too.”
Do you still have the wig?
Tyler Reddick: “No – I don’t know. Well, I might. I might. I’m not gonna lie. It was a long time ago. Moved from one house to next, got kids, things ends up in boxes. There’s a chance I have that wig somewhere.”
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