MARTINSVILLE, Va. -- For the sixth time in Denny Hamlin's Cup Series career, he won at Martinsville Speedway after fending off challengers on numerous restarts. This time, however, it was against Bubba Wallace.
This was exactly what Hamlin hoped for when he hired Wallace to be 23XI Racing's first driver.
"My perfect scenario is me winning and my team cars to finish second, third, fourth, that'd be the perfect scenario," Hamlin said in response to a question from AltDriver.
"It's nearly impossible to have, but when you're able to execute a day where we could win and they can be in the top five and contending for a win, that's just like I scripted it up."
Sunday's race was not the first time that Hamlin raced Wallace for the win. He also did so at Kansas Speedway in 2022. The 23XI Racing driver prevailed at the intermediate track as he scored his second career Cup Series win. Hamlin settled for second place.
This weekend's race at Martinsville Speedway played out differently. Wallace qualified inside the top 10, scored points in stage 2, and remained firmly inside the top five throughout the final stage.
He just could never quite get past his boss, someone who has led 2,722 laps at the Virginia short track while scoring six wins.
"I know what they have, and I know what I have," Hamlin said. "And if I have track position and I have my experience around this track, it was going to be extremely difficult for them to get around me at any point of that run.
"I was able to just kind of do what I had to do, like just keep them a little close."
Not that Wallace ever quit trying new strategies while trying to beat both Hamlin and runner-up Christopher Bell.
Each time Hamlin lined up for a restart during the final stage, Wallace joined him on the front row. Hamlin would fire first as the control car, while Wallace would try to time his restart.
Sometimes, the moves paid off as he jumped into second place and began hounding his boss for the lead. Other times, Bell would get a better restart and force Wallace back into third place.
"I was just trying stuff, and I didn't like the capability of our car on the bottom," Wallace told AltDriver after the race. "I was worried that I would get pinched off and fall to third, which I did.
"...It wasn't from a lack of trying, but (I) just couldn't figure it out."
The efforts to pass Hamlin on the restarts failed, but Wallace still crossed the finish line third overall for the second consecutive week. This marked the first time in Wallace's career that he had delivered back-to-back podium finishes.
As Hamlin saw it, this further proved that the No. 23 team is on the path back to the playoffs.
"That team and Bubba, they're really good right now," Hamlin said. "I mean, really, really good, on the edge of winning races."