23XI owner sends DIRE warning to drivers after wrecks

23XI Racing co-owner Denny Hamlin has sent a strong warning to Xfinity Series drivers looking to graduate to his team.

Last weekend's Xfinity Series race at Martinsville saw a number of wrecks, especially in the later stages, with Hamlin (who won the Cup Series race the following day) hitting out at the win-or-bust mentality coming through in young drivers.

Sam Mayer, Sammy Smith and eventual winner Austin Hill were the main targets of Hamlin's ire on his Actions Detrimental podcast for three separate incidents, with Smith being docked 50 points and fined $25,000 by NASCAR after the race.

The comments are just the latest in a string of experienced Cup Series drivers eviscerating the attitudes of young – particularly Xfinity Series – drivers in recent weeks and months.

NASCAR HEADLINES: Denny Hamlin slams 'IDIOTS', Cup Series team facing suspension

Hamlin: Win-or-bust crashes just show me immaturity

Warning any drivers hoping to move up to drive for 23XI, he said: "I own some cars in the Cup Series and if you ever think I'm going to look at you just because you wiped the guy out and won? No, that doesn't impress me at all. It just shows me immaturity.

"There's been multiple opportunities for these guys to get to the finish in a somewhat respectful way – we're not expecting these guys not to make contact, we're not expecting them to not try to get the guy out of the groove, but coming from 2-3 car lengths back to wreck someone is just the most unimpressive thing I've seen."

Hamlin came back to the subject later in the conversation, adding: "I can only speak for 23XI, but it doesn't impress me, for absolute certain. It just shows me the level of immaturity that says 'that kid's got a lot way to go', which sucks because I've also given Sam his flowers on races that he's won.

"I think Sam Mayer has gone through one of the biggest transitions of racecraft – this was a bad example of it – over the last three years. He went from someone I was like 'he'll never make it, he's just not good enough' to 'wow, maybe he is, maybe he's hitting this'...

'He really has taken a step in the last few years that has been impressive. But it's moments like this where it's like 'oh, let's reset this, he's got to start all over again'."

READ MORE: Michael Jordan's 23XI suffer championship setback as star plummets following Martinsville disqualification

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