NASCAR: 5 teams that could buy a Stewart-Haas Racing charter
By Randy Smith
No. 3 - 23XI Racing
During their short tenure in the NASCAR Cup Series, 23XI Racing have had great success. In their first year in the Cup Series, the team owned by Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin and NBA Hall of Famer Michael Jordan scored their first win when Bubba Wallace won at Talladega Superspeedway in 2021.
Since then, the team have expanded from one car to two and have scored wins with both Kurt Busch and Tyler Reddick behind the wheel of the No. 45 Toyota, with Wallace even adding one when he was shifted to the No. 45 car following Busch's injury in September 2022. But the team haven't just stopped with two cars.
Last season, 23XI Racing fielded a non-charter car in select races, with Travis Pastrana and Kamui Kobayashi piloting the No. 67 Toyota. This season, the third car was re-numbered to No. 50, with Kobayashi returning for last month's race at Circuit of the Americas.
The team plan to run the No. 67 Toyota in more races this season, and if they want to continue searching for success beyond Reddick and Wallace, buying a third charter could be the next big step for a team long considered to be eyeing further expansion.
Like Legacy Motor Club, 23XI Racing could use a third charter car as a shared entry and look to a younger TRD driver to develop as the season progresses. Conversely, they could also use it to field a third full-time driver.