You’d think that if a boss and his employee, who generally get along, got into a dust-up, they’d sort it out quickly. A chat in the office. Maybe a beer. Shake hands, move on.
But no. If that boss and employee happen to be NASCAR drivers, “quickly” doesn’t exist. Instead, the garage spent the week buzzing, waiting to see when — or if — the two would actually speak to each other.
That’s the bizarre reality of Bubba Wallace and Denny Hamlin — a working relationship you won’t find anywhere else in professional sports. Wallace drives for 23XI Racing, a team Hamlin co-owns with NBA legend Michael Jordan. That makes Hamlin Wallace’s boss. But come Sunday afternoon, Hamlin isn’t wearing loafers and a polo shirt. He’s in Nomex and fireproof underwear, strapped into his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, racing against the very man whose paychecks have his name on them.
And at Kansas last Sunday, that relationship detonated. On the final lap of the Hollywood Casino 400, Hamlin stormed into Turn 3 alongside Wallace. Both cars slid high. Wallace smacked the wall. Hamlin bogged down just enough. And Chase Elliott, grinning like a man who’d just stumbled onto a free beer tent, blasted past both of them to steal the win in overtime.
Wallace’s Playoff hopes took a hit. Hamlin’s chance at career win No. 60 disappeared. And the boss-versus-employee clash instantly became the week’s biggest talking point.
Hamlin, for his part, wasn’t losing sleep. On Monday, he went on his Actions Detrimental podcast and essentially said if you were looking for an apology, you were wasting your time.
“I’m racing for the win and I definitely won’t apologize for racing for the win,” he said, doubling down with the kind of stubbornness that’s kept him in NASCAR’s top tier for two decades.
Hamlin painted the picture of a man living two lives: team owner Monday through Saturday, merciless driver of the No. 11 on Sunday. “Joe (Gibbs) pays me a lot of money to make sure that that car wins a championship,” he said. Translation: don’t expect me to wave my own driver past when I’m staring down a milestone victory.
That all sounded neat enough — except for one problem. By Saturday at Charlotte, Wallace admitted he and Hamlin hadn’t spoken all week. Not a text. Not a phone call. Not even a passing word in the garage. They finally sat down just thirty minutes before Wallace faced the media.
“Look, it was definitely a somber week for sure, and I hate that it got to this point,” Wallace said. “But Denny and I just talked 30 minutes ago. It was a good, heart-to-heart conversation. It came from a place of peace. It went better than I thought it would.”
Wallace even threw Hamlin off balance when he admitted he wasn’t mad about the move itself.
“I could give two shits because he is a competitor,” Wallace said. “That was two competitors going for a win. As much so as it didn’t work out, I have to respect that.”
What did sting was how Hamlin handled it afterward — all podcast bravado, no quick acknowledgment.
“It just kept adding fuel to the fire,” Wallace said. “I had a dark cloud over my mind all week long, man, it’s not fair to my team.”
But that wasn’t the last word. Later on Saturday, Hamlin finally opened up about the long-delayed chat with Wallace.
“I’ll keep some of it private, but the biggest thing is just listening,” Hamlin said. “What’s made me successful as a driver is continuing to evolve and try to get better. And even as an adult you’ve got to keep trying to get better. I felt it was important to hear his perspective and give mine. We had respect for each other and I think it went very well. We’re in a good place.”
Hamlin admitted he had no idea Wallace had been stewing.
“Truthfully, I didn’t know he was upset,” Hamlin said. “He came over, shook my hand, said it was just two guys going for it. But I should have at least checked with him to make sure. That’s on me.”
So why wait nearly a week? Hamlin said he wanted the talk to be face-to-face. “It takes time,” he said. “I’ve got a lot going on, and I knew we’d be in the same place, same time here.”
The tightrope between being an owner and a driver isn’t lost on him. “I don’t think Bubba faults me for trying to get a win,” Hamlin said. “He understood the significance to me personally, and I understood his perspective after listening. It just took a 15-minute talk to hear each other out.”
In the end, both men seemed to walk away lighter.
“No, we’re good. We’re in a good place,” Hamlin said. “This was probably the first real challenge we’ve had in five years, which isn’t bad. It was a crummy week, but I feel like everyone’s in a good spot now. I don’t think this was the last time we’ll be racing for a win, so maybe next time one of us actually makes it to the finish line first.”
So yes, the boss and his driver finally hashed it out. But don’t mistake peace for permanent harmony. Wallace admitted the sting lingers. Hamlin made it clear he won’t back down.
Which means the next time these two clash for a checkered flag, expect sparks, sheet metal, and bruised egos. In NASCAR’s strangest boss-employee relationship, that’s about as close to normal as it gets.
Greg was a writer for DriveTribe supporting Amazon's The Grand Tour and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, and a Masters degree in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek and a regular contributor to Forbes.
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