NASCAR Cup Series star and 23XI Racing co-owner Denny Hamlin has warned his drivers he is expecting improvements in 2026.

Hamlin co-owns the team alongside NBA icon Michael Jordan, and heading into the new season, they will once again be running three full-time cars - the No. 23 of Bubba Wallace, the No. 35 of Riley Herbst, and the No. 45 of Tyler Reddick.

The trio will certainly be hoping for more success this season, with just one victory between them in 2025 - Wallace's victory at the Brickyard - and early playoff exits for both Wallace and Reddick.

Herbst in particular had a shocker of a campaign, taking part in all 36 races and failing to register a single top-10 finish, never mind a victory. His best result being a P14 at Texas.

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Denny Hamlin puts pressure on 23XI trio

Given those results, Herbst enters the new season with several in the NASCAR community speculating over his future.

However, while Hamlin is expecting a big improvement from the 26-year-old, he is also demanding more from Wallace and Reddick.

“We got to see better performance, for sure," Hamlin told the press conference when asked about Herbst's future.

"Where the [No.] 35 was running last year was not up to what we expect.

"We signed a multiyear agreement with Riley because we want to see where it goes in the second year. I want to see gain in performance and [he] needs to be challenging into the top-10 and top-15. That’s where we expect our cars to run.

"The more experienced guys in Tyler (Reddick) and Bubba (Wallace), they need to be competing for race wins more often as well.”

23XI Clash results

Hamlin's comments came ahead of the Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium, and things didn't get off to the best start for the team.

Herbst failed to qualify for the race in the No. 35, for example, while Reddick and Wallace finished 22nd and 22rd in the Nos. 45 and 23, respectively.

The Clash is only an exhibition, however, with the points-paying action set to kick off with the Daytona 500 next week.

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