NASCAR: There is still an empty trophy case at 23XI Racing
By Asher Fair
NASCAR Cup Series driver and team co-owner Denny Hamlin made remarks about the empty trophy case at his new team, 23XI Racing.
Three new teams entered the NASCAR Cup Series ahead of the 2021 season, and the one that generated the most hype was the team started by Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin and NBA legend Michael Jordan: 23XI Racing.
23XI Racing signed former Richard Petty Motorsports driver Bubba Wallace as the driver of the #23 Toyota, and they formed a technical alliance with Joe Gibbs Racing.
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Entering the season, Jordan said that he believes Wallace has what it takes to win races, and Wallace set himself a goal of securing multiple victories in his first season with the team.
Suffice it to say that the start of the 2021 season has been a disappointment.
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Growing pains were expected, but at this point, Wallace is already practically in a must-win scenario just to make the playoffs. And save for a few strong runs in the two superspeedway races at Daytona International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway that went out the window late, he has not come close to winning.
Wallace sits in 21st place in the point standings, but with the 15th and 16th place drivers (Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell and Front Row Motorsports’ Michael McDowell, respectively) having already won races, he is seven spots below the playoff cut line, as opposed to five.
He trails 14th place driver Chris Buescher by 93 points for the 16th and final playoff spot; 55 points is the maximum point total for a non-winner of any given race. Wallace’s top finish of the season is his 11th place run at Dover International Speedway
Hamlin spoke to Jim Rome on The Jim Rome Show following Sunday’s All-Star Race at Texas Motor Speedway and ahead of the 2021 season’s 17th points race, the inaugural race at Nashville Superspeedway, about 23XI Racing, and he was asked by Rome about their empty trophy case.
Rome asked Hamlin why the team keep the trophy case empty, given all the trophies that Hamlin and Jordan have earned throughout their careers and could easily place in it.
“Well, we keep it empty for a simple reason: we gotta earn it,” Hamlin said. “There’s no past success that means you’re entitled to anything today. So we have to go out there and that team has to earn its own trophies and not just rest on the laurels that myself and Michael have accomplished in our careers. So we want them to see that empty case and want to fill it up themselves.”
The full interview can be found here.
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Sunday’s race, the Ally 400, is set to be broadcast live on NBC Sports Network from Nashville Superspeedway beginning at 3:30 p.m. ET.