Denny Hamlin knows that the worst thing he can do when he spots a future star is tell the rest of NASCAR who he wants. One comment can turn an unknown prospect into a name every team starts watching. By then, the race to sign that driver has already begun. For 23XI Racing, a team still building its place among NASCAR’s established organizations, getting there first can make all the difference.
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Hamlin has now explained why he keeps certain names to himself, how he got ahead of rival teams to sign Tyler Reddick, and why Corey Heim presents a different kind of challenge.
“There are a few young guys that, yeah, I mean, I would like first rights to get into their ear. And if I say it out here, then I then take a unassuming car owner and they say, oh, well, maybe I should look into that person. Right. And so I’d rather not do that. And when I was thinking about how we recruited Tyler, I knew there were going to be other teams that wanted him. So I just had to get to him sooner than everyone else did,” said Hamlin in a clip shared on X.
The interesting part is how early Hamlin was willing to move. When 23XI announced Reddick’s signing in July 2022, the driver was still racing for Richard Childress Racing. His contract situation was not an immediate problem, but Hamlin knew other teams would eventually want him.
Waiting for the usual silly-season scramble would have left 23XI fighting competitors with their own resources and promises.
Instead, Reddick was signed for the 2024 season, giving the team time to prepare for a driver who had already won his first Cup race at Road America. The deal was later moved up to 2023 after Kurt Busch stepped away from full-time racing. Hamlin was not waiting for Reddick to become an obvious superstar. He wanted to secure him before the competition had a chance to make its case.
That decision now looks especially smart. Reddick won the 2024 regular-season championship and reached the Championship 4. In 2026, he started the season with five wins in the first nine races, including the Daytona 500. He has since signed a contract extension to remain with 23XI. The driver Hamlin wanted before other teams could get involved has become one of the organization’s biggest assets.
But Reddick was already a Cup winner when Hamlin pursued him. Corey Heim presented a different problem. He was still climbing through NASCAR’s lower divisions, and 23XI needed to convince him that its future was the right place to build his own.
Heim had been part of Toyota’s development system since 2020. He joined 23XI as a development driver in 2025, then won the 2025 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship with a record 12 victories in one season. Those results made him one of the most sought-after young talents in the sport.
The complication was that 23XI did not have exclusive access to Toyota’s prospects. Joe Gibbs Racing was another major Toyota team, and Hamlin drives for Gibbs while running 23XI alongside Michael Jordan. He understood both sides of that competition. He knew how an established team could appeal to a young driver, but he also knew what his own organization could offer.
“And Corey Heim, it’s like, OK, well, he’s in the Toyota family. I’m going to be probably going against Gibbs and competing against this Gibbs for his talents. I need to just sell the dream to him.”
That was not simply talk. Reporting based on evidence disclosed in the antitrust lawsuit involving 23XI Racing, Front Row Motorsports and NASCAR revealed how strongly Hamlin and Jordan wanted to secure Heim. Hamlin told Jordan they needed to sign the young driver before someone else did. Jordan’s response was direct: “lock him up.”
The exchange reveals what Hamlin means by selling a dream. 23XI had to offer more than a promise of a future Cup seat. Heim needed to see a development path, gain experience in the car and trust that the team would give him a genuine opportunity. By May 2026, that plan had produced a clear outcome: Heim was confirmed as the full-time driver of the No. 35 Toyota for 2027, replacing Riley Herbst.
Hamlin’s confidence in young drivers comes down to something he says is difficult to teach. Natural speed catches his attention, but he also looks for the willingness to work at it.
“There’s just some drivers that have an ability that I can’t explain. It’s far beyond my ability. And if they if you have work ethic with that ability, that’s when you become great. And that’s where I see some of these young guys going right now.”
For 23XI, the payoff is bigger than signing one promising driver. Reddick has shown the team can recruit proven Cup talent and turn that investment into wins. Heim gives it a chance to develop a star from within. With Bubba Wallace also established in the lineup, the organization is building a future rather than chasing the next available name.
Hamlin still has to make those decisions work on the track. But his approach is clear: find the talent early, keep competitors guessing and give the driver a reason to believe. In NASCAR, where rival teams are watching the same prospects, the battle for a future star can begin years before the first green flag.