DARLINGTON, S.C. -- The Xfinity Series drivers know where they stand after an early morning meeting with NASCAR competition officials -- aggressiveness on the track is fine, but only to a point.
If drivers start intentionally wrecking each other as they did last weekend at Martinsville, the competition officials will get involved.
Will this curb the issues heading into future races on the Xfinity schedule, which includes a pivotal playoff race at Martinsville in the fall? Honestly, none of the drivers know until they are back behind the wheel.
"We're going to get through it," Austin Hill told media members on Saturday at Darlington Raceway. "We have, whatever it is, seven, eight months before we go back to Martinsville. I'm hoping a lot of things change between now and then.
"I don't think that just one meeting is going to change the outcome of the playoff race in Martinsville. It might be one of those cases where we need to have multiple meetings throughout the year just to reiterate some of the stuff, even if things aren't happening on the race track."
As Hill explained, Saturday's meeting with NASCAR was not simply a lecture. The drivers had opportunities to weigh in about the levels of respect and aggressiveness.
Reigning champion Justin Allgaier took this opportunity to voice his opinion, as did Hill, who acknowledged that he made mistakes during last weekend's race.
Both drivers are veterans in the series, so their comments carry a lot of weight whether they are made in a meeting or in post-race discussions with competitors.
"I think that Justin and I can bring a lot to the table on trying to lead the Xfinity Series," Hill said. "I think that him and I both being veterans of the sport, he has different ways of looking at it than what I do.
"But I think that we both can kind of bring our own perspective in a way and kind of reach both areas of drivers as far as the super aggressive ones and maybe the ones that race extremely clean."
The intentional wrecks aren't new at Martinsville Speedway. They have happened multiple times in recent seasons. However, they have made the short track more of an outlier on the schedule.
The contentious nature of these Xfinity races at Martinsville is a far cry from other Xfinity events. Fans and drivers expect some chaos at the Virginia short track, but not necessarily at other venues on the schedule.
The hope is that the drivers can reset this reputation as they move forward with the rest of the season.
"I stand strongly on the side of, for whatever reason, when the Xfinity Series goes to Martinsville, we just lose our minds," Hill said. "But everywhere else, we are the best racing in NASCAR.
"I strongly stand behind that -- we are the best series in NASCAR. Just when you go to Martinsville, we look like we don't know what we're doing."