NASCAR: Team name development indicates future announcement
By Asher Fair
A recent trademark application indicates that Bubba Wallace could drive the #23 car in the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season for Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin.
When NBA Hall of Famer Michael Jordan and NASCAR Cup Series driver Denny Hamlin teamed up to form a one-car Cup Series team for Bubba Wallace last month, not many details about the team — not even the team name — were announced.
But many fans just assumed that Wallace’s car number for the 2021 season would be #23, the number worn by the six-time NBA champion, as that number is not currently used in the Cup Series.
It appears that we are one step closer to getting that confirmation.
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A company representing the basketball legend, 2311 Racing LLC in North Carolina, has reportedly filed trademark applications for the number 23 and the name 23XI Racing.
The application was filed at the address of Jump DC, which is Jordan’s business office, and according to CBS Sports, the address listed on the application traces back to a company called The Sacks Group, which lists the 57-year-old Brooklyn, New York native as a client.
The number “23” in “23XI” is obviously in reference to Jordan’s number, and as indicated in the company name, the “XI” Roman numeral translates to “11”, which is Hamlin’s racing number, the number he has used since making his Cup Series debut in 2005.
The car number 23 hasn’t been used in the Cup Series since the 2018 season when it was used by BK Racing. BK Racing sold their assets to Front Row Motorsports in 2018, but Front Row Motorsports have not run a #23 car despite that acquisition.
Teams don't own numbers but NASCAR commits to giving teams the same number year after year because obviously they have a lot of equity in the number. If a team stops using a number, NASCAR, at its discretion, will give it to someone else. https://t.co/TLYCQu0Gvr
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) October 17, 2020
It is still believed that the presumed #23 car will be a Toyota, given the fact that Hamlin drives the #11 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing and the fact that he has reportedly been in talks with team owner Joe Gibbs about a Toyota deal for the team.
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There is no timetable regarding when more details will be confirmed beyond the existence of the new team, but this recent development indicates that it probably won’t be too much longer.