NASCAR: What if Michael Jordan, 23XI Racing hadn’t joined?

Netflix’s recent documentary on NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace revealed how 23XI Racing was formed. But what if things hadn’t come together?

Netflix’s recent docuseries Race: Bubba Wallace shows a behind the scenes look at the NASCAR Cup Series driver and his current team, 23XI Racing. From Wallace’s days in K&N Pro Series East to the Cup Series, his journey to get to where he is now is well-documented.

The Joe Gibbs Racing-affiliated Toyota team owned by Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin and NBA Hall of Famer Michael Jordan have made their presence known in the Cup Series, already scoring a win at Talladega Superspeedway with Wallace last October. They expanded to a two-car team with Kurt Busch driving the #45 Toyota this year.

With a goal set of having both cars in the NASCAR playoffs, it’s clear to see that 23XI Racing are not content with only the superspeedway win, nor being a mid-pack team. The expectations are high, and growth from within the Concord, North Carolina-based team will continue to be an expectation throughout the rest of the season.

But the reality of not having 23XI Racing, or Jordan as an owner in the Cup Series at all, was closer than previously thought.

There’s no argument that 23XI Racing and Jordan as a Cup Series team owner was one of the more closely followed stories throughout the 2021 season. However, the docuseries touches on the formation of the team and the catalyst that sparked conversations between Hamlin and Jordan.

Hamlin talks about reading an article which touched on a rumor that Jordan and himself were looking into buying a Cup Series team — an article that Hamlin described as “more of a speculative article”, with Jordan describing the rumor itself as “fake news”.

But Jordan left an open-ended scenario to Hamlin turning the “fake news” into “real news”, and between 24 and 48 hours later, 23XI Racing talks had begun.

As it turns out, the article cited came from none other than Beyond the Flag, published on Thursday, August 27, 2020. The article covered a report from another outlet that Jordan and Hamlin were buying into Richard Petty Motorsports, but it also cited a report from Fox Sports’ Bob Pockrass one day earlier, stating that this was not the case.

Lo and behold, the original “fake news” report, originally shared on Wednesday, August 26, was redacted.

But if Jordan did truly brush off the rumor as “fake news” and left it at that, 23XI Racing would not exist, leaving a massive number of unknowns in NASCAR.

If Jordan were only to have sent the text of “Haha, fake news” without a call to action to Hamlin, there’s a real possibility that 23XI Racing wouldn’t exist. With the team out of the picture, Wallace and others would have had to look elsewhere for their Cup Series futures.

It was widely reported at the time that Richard Petty Motorsports had offered Wallace a larger stake in the team than he already had in order to convince him to stay behind the wheel of the #43 Chevrolet for a fourth season in 2021.

If Wallace would have taken that deal, not only would he now find himself in an ownership position, but there’s also reason to believe that GMS Racing never would have merged with the team to form Petty GMS Motorsports. This would have left GMS Racing to their original plan: being a one-car team in 2022, fielding the #94 Chevrolet with Ty Dillon as the driver.

Another option for Wallace was to join Chip Ganassi Racing as the driver of the #42 Chevrolet. That seat ultimately went to Ross Chastain. Had Wallace originally taken it, Chastain may have not found a home in the Cup Series — and Wallace and Busch would have teamed up one year sooner.

But all three still would have had to find homes for 2022, as Chip Ganassi Racing wound up selling the team to Trackhouse Racing Team. They are a two-car team, meaning that one of these three drivers would have likely been left without a ride.

All in all, 23XI Racing is here to stay, with Hamlin and Jordan looking to compete with fellow owners, young and old. But without Hamlin finding and reading the aforementioned Beyond the Flag article, or with Jordan potentially brushing off the rumor, there’s a legitimate possibility that there would have been no 23XI Racing, which would have created a ripple effect for drivers, manufacturers and owners alike.