"You’d get your front teeth knocked out" - Denny Hamlin discloses the biggest issue with the new generation of NASCAR drivers

Denny Hamlin, winner of 47 Cup Series races, spoke his mind about the new era of NASCAR. Hamlin, who clinched his first victory of the 2022 season at Richmond in the Toyota Owners 400, appeared as a guest on The Jim Rome Show after the race in Virginia.

The discussion on the talk show revolved around the aggressiveness of the younger generation of drivers.

The Chesterfield, Virginia native was asked about Ross Chastain's move on AJ Allmendinger at the EchoPark Automotive Texas Grand Prix. Hamlin replied by touching on the lack of respect he sees on track, and said:

“The newer, younger generation that came in, it just seems like they are more aggressive. Now, more aggressive is fine, but I think it’s just — you could talk about a much bigger subject here of like just the lack of respect that people have for each other nowadays. All you have to do is log on Twitter to find that.”

The Joe Gibbs Racing driver also felt that having a car surrounding a person makes him feel powerful, stating:

“When we feel like there’s a barrier between us, people talk a lot of stuff. And when you’re in a car and you don’t have to answer to that person face to face, you’re willing to do things that you wouldn’t if you had to answer to it. And I think in the past, what happened is, you got wrecked or knocked out of the way, you’d get your front teeth knocked out.”

NASCAR in general has evolved over time, where the teams have become increasingly corporate. The crew is always behind their own drivers under any circumstances, which leads them to being more aggressive, thinks the 41-year-old.

Denny Hamlin not impressed with 23XI Racing's performance.

23XI Racing co-owner Denny Hamlin criticized his team's poor performances throughout the 2022 season last weekend at Richmond.

While Hamlin managed to turn his slow start to the season around with a victory, he was not impressed with the 26th and 35th positions the Mooresville-based team achieved.

Denny Hamlin further spoke on the topic on Friday in Martinsville and said:

“I mean, again, just trying to stop the bleeding there. I said earlier this week, you know, it’s just, the win was really exciting until you get out of the car, and you look down the pylon and say, ‘what the (expletive), like, what’s going on?’ But it’s just, it’s agitating because it’s different things on different teams. But it’s just a two-week slump that we’ve got to get out of.”

Bubba Wallace Jr. and Kurt Busch will be looking to turn 23XI Racing's fortunes around at the Food City Dirt Race at Bristol Motor Speedway.