Denny Hamlin has mentioned this incessantly however his 23XI Racing workforce and Joe Gibbs Racing are true alliance companions as a part of the $8 million a 12 months the previous pays to the latter in trade for all technical knowledge.
However Hamlin says, and he did once more on Monday on his Actions Detrimental podcast, that the data circulation goes each methods.
“We’re all the time aware about what they’re doing in addition to they know what we’re doing,” Hamlin mentioned on the present.
This was a part of a broader dialog about how 23XI is so a lot better than JGR proper now, at the least by way of profitable races, with Tyler Reddick profitable 4 of the primary six to open the 2026 NASCAR Cup Sequence season.
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What determines the deviation in set-up decisions as soon as JGR and 23XI finally ends up with the identical data packet?
“It begins a couple of week and a half to 2 weeks prematurely,” Hamlin mentioned. “The groups will begin developing with a baseline setup. Like, ‘this is the overall shock, springs, weights of the automobile that we predict is right’ after which as they run sim and simulation fashions, it should proceed to evolve and as they get extra data, it simply begins to evolve after which the drivers ship the groups down a sure path of ‘what I would like my automobile to do.’
“So I feel that we in all probability … I wasn’t conscious that they have been in a unique place, like a far totally different place … far, distant from the place we have been till just like the weekend. However once more, we’re all simply guessing.”
How typically does JGR driver Denny Hamlin have a look at what 23XI is doing?
“I don’t have a look at setup sheets or something like that,” Hamlin mentioned. “It’s all the time totally different for each workforce, actually on any given week. I don’t have time to then, ‘Alright, I’ve locked in my setup, let me see what different individuals have give you.’ I’ve completed it post-race earlier than and mentioned, ‘Okay, that particular person was profitable with that. Let me run that. Let me see what that appears like.’ That in all probability will occur right this moment, however usually talking, I simply concentrate on what I want as a result of at so many of those racetracks, I’ve a extremely good understanding of the texture that I want in my automobile to go win.”
And within the case of the primary six races, 23XI has simply completed a greater job of guessing what set-up must be loaded into the vehicles.
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