NASCAR: Denny Hamlin admits 23XI concern from 2021

Denny Hamlin admitted that there was one significant concern which emerged late in 23XI Racing’s first NASCAR Cup Series season last year.

Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin and NBA legend Michael Jordan announced two years ago Wednesday that they would be joining forces in 2021 to start a new NASCAR Cup Series team 23XI Racing (named at a later date).

The one-car team purchased a charter from Germain Racing, which closed their doors after the 2020 season, and announced Bubba Wallace as the driver of their #23 Toyota. They also formed a technical alliance with Joe Gibbs Racing.

But fairly early on, Hamlin was adamant that he wanted the team to expand to two cars, perhaps as early as the 2022 season. In the summer of 2021, 23XI Racing confirmed an expansion for 2022, adding the #45 Toyota for Kurt Busch.

What they failed to do by that point, however, was secure a charter.

There were rumors that they were in talks with a team to purchase one of their two charters for the 2022 season. When that didn’t happen, Hamlin admitted that there was a concern that perhaps the team wouldn’t be able to acquire a second charter for 2022, which would have resulted in the #45 Toyota running without one.

“There was [a concern],” Hamlin told Beyond the Flag in an interview conducted earlier this year. “There was a point when the deal that we had in place kind of fell through. That was certainly unfortunate for us.”

23XI Racing believed that they were going to purchasing a charter from Front Row Motorsports, which had two. But that deal fell through, and Front Row Motorsports opted to continue running two full-time chartered entries in 2022, one for Michael McDowell’s #34 Ford and another for rookie Todd Gilliland’s #38 Ford.

StarCom Racing, which had been rumored to sell their charter to Spire Motorsports, ended up shutting down after the 2021 season and selling their charter to 23XI Racing instead, giving the team their long-awaited second charter.

“But it all worked itself out,” Hamlin continued. “I think that breaking into the sport is hard, as it should be. I think that when you look at, when you want to become an owner in any other sports league, you’re going to cost dearly for that, and you’re going to have to be approved by other owners and whatnot.

“And so there’s a process there that we respect. And we are just the new guys coming in, and we’re trying to do it the right way and expand the right way in the right amount of time.”

Spire Motorsports, which sold two of their three charters from 2021 to Kaulig Racing, did end up acquiring a second charter as well. Theirs came from Rick Ware Racing, which downsized from four cars to two this year.

Hamlin and 23XI Racing remain interested in purchasing a third charter, though a timetable hasn’t been specified. They have already signed Richard Childress Racing’s Tyler Reddick for 2024, but specifics on which car he will drive have not been determined. Wallace recently signed a long-term extension, and Busch’s deal runs through 2023 and contains an option for 2024.