Budding NASCAR powerhouse team owned by Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan just needs short track magic

Denny Hamlin likes comparing his lightning-fast assembly of 23XI Racing to solving a Rubik's Cube. He knows there's one critical piece left to solving the championship puzzle for the budding NASCAR powerhouse that he's built with NBA great Michael Jordan. "It's the short tracks," Hamlin said Sunday after Tyler Reddick won at Darlington Raceway for 23XI's fourth win through six of 36 races this year (already a season-best victory total for a team that started in 2021). "The short tracks (are) the only place where 23XI as a whole could get a little bit better. I know they're all working on that, but I don't know. We just don't have any weaknesses right now." In his seventh Cup season, the 30-year-old Reddick has emerged as the runaway points leader in the Cup Series. He has a 95-point lead on second place in the regular-season championship standings, and 23XI teammate Bubba Wallace is ranked third. Reddick's margin is larger than the points total for any driver outside the top 25 in the 2026 standings. The No. 45 Toyota driver has won at a superspeedway, a road course and now at Darlington, considered the toughest track on the circuit. But his status as a top-flight championship contender would be confirmed if he can excel this weekend at Martinsville Speedway, the first of the three short tracks on the schedule where 23XI has lagged the most. Reddick's 12 career victories have occurred at 11 tracks, but missing from that list are Bristol Motor Speedway, Richmond Raceway and Martinsville, where he has only two top-10 finishes in 12 starts. "If I can win there, oh my gosh, the world is going to end," he joked about Sunday's 500-lap race at the 0.526-mile oval in southwest Virginia. Reddick has finished outside the top 15 eight times at Martinsville. His worst finish was a 35th in 2022 when his head smacked the cockpit padding during a crash, and he pulled into the garage for evaluation at the care center. Reddick expects adversity at Martinsville, but his team has shown strength in overcoming trouble. In three of his four victories, he rebounded from being caught in crashes (Daytona, Atlanta) and from a malfunctioning alternator (Darlington). "For us to be put through these things that kept us from winning a year ago to fight through these things and then still win is very remarkable," Reddick said. "It's very fulfilling. It's the stuff that you just got to kind of take a step back and say, 'Wow, that was incredible.' I'm definitely in that place right now." He easily had the fastest car Sunday with new regulations of 12% more horsepower and 25% less downforce. The combination left many stars befuddled (three-time Cup champion Joey Logano finished three laps down in 33rd). Yet Reddick shied away from labeling his team as the best in Cup. "I'll let you guys figure that part out," he said. "We'll just keep working hard and keep winning races. I don't need to say anything about it." But Hamlin, who made many of the key personnel decisions with Jordan providing the multimillion-dollar bankroll, is ready to embrace the mantle of virtually being on par with Hendrick Motorsports, Team Penske and Joe Gibbs Racing — the three teams that have combined to win 18 of the past 21 championships. "You just keep putting really good people together, and you're going to have those type of results," Hamlin said. "This was the most impressive weekend I've seen from 23XI, because everyone came in here with so many unknowns. "We certainly would say right now that there's not a whole lot more to do to be at that level. They're there right now." RFK Racing revival After leading a race-high 142 laps at Darlington, Brad Keselowski had to settle for his sixth runner-up finish since his most recent win, 65 races ago at Darlington in May 2024. But the team owner of Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing took pride in running 1-2-3 at one point with teammates Chris Buescher (ninth) and Ryan Preece (13th). Their Fords all were painted in honor of late Roush driver Greg Biffle, a two-time Darlington winner who liked hanging his car out and scraping the wall at the 1.366-mile oval. "We're doing the things we need to do and making the most of the days we have," Keselowski said. "It's really cool to have a great group of cars running up front. I put a nice right-side stripe on the car. I think that would make Greg proud. If you know Greg, you'll understand that one."