NASCAR: More 23XI Racing announcements coming next week
By Asher Fair
More announcements about the Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan co-owned 23XI Racing NASCAR Cup Series team should be made next week.
More than one month after confirming that they would co-own a one-car NASCAR Cup Series team starting next year and that Bubba Wallace would be the driver of their lone car, NBA legend Michael Jordan and Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin announced the team’s name and car number.
The team’s name is 23X1 Racing, which is based on the numbers of the two co-owners. Jordan wore the number 23 on his jersey en route to his six NBA championships playing for the Chicago Bulls, and “XI” is the Roman numeral for the number 11, Hamlin’s racing number.
The team’s car number is set to be 23 as a nod to Jordan’s Hall of Fame basketball career.
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However, there are still quite a few details about the team which have not yet been released, such as their manufacturer and a potential technical alliance.
It is strongly expected — and pretty much all but “confirmed” — that the #23 car will be a Toyota Camry and that the team will be forming a technical alliance with the four-car Toyota team of Joe Gibbs Racing, given Hamlin’s ties to Toyota, the fact that he drives for Joe Gibbs Racing and has done so since 2005, and the ongoing discussions that have been taking place about the matter.
These announcements about 23XI Racing are set to be made early next week, according to Fox Sports’ Bob Pockrass.
Denny Hamlin said details of manufacturer, crew chief, etc. for 23XI Racing should be announced early next week.
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) October 23, 2020
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Joe Gibbs Racing will also no longer have their current technical alliance with Leavine Family Racing after the 2020 season, as Bob Leavine’s team have sold their assets, including the charter they use to run the #95 Toyota for the Joe Gibbs Racing-bound Christopher Bell, to Spire Motorsports for next year. Their cars, however, were returned to Joe Gibbs Racing.