Tyler Reddick pulled off a top-five finish in Sunday’s race at Atlanta Motor Speedway on a day when it looked iffy that he’d even get behind the wheel. So under the weather was Reddick before the race, 23XI Racing fitted John Hunter Nemechek to the …
Tyler Reddick pulled off a top-five finish in Sunday’s race at Atlanta Motor Speedway on a day when it looked iffy that he’d even get behind the wheel.
So under the weather was Reddick before the race, 23XI Racing fitted John Hunter Nemechek to the No. 45 Toyota. Nemechek was suited up and on the pit box all afternoon, ready to go if he needed to relieve Reddick.
Not only did Reddick make the race’s start, but he also went the distance in the 400-mile event without issue and was in contention for the race win. He ran inside the top three through the final laps and crossed under the white flag in fourth position before returning to a fifth-place result.
“I feel all right,” Reddick said afterward. “I picked a good time to kind of get over whatever was going on. Made it through the race; don’t feel too bad. I wish we would have finished better than fifth. I definitely wasn’t my best out there today, mentally. I made a few poor decisions, but we were thankfully able to bring the car home fifth.”
Reddick earned points in the second stage and kept his car in one piece. Running as high as second as the race wound down, he led the way in the outside lane as Brad Keselowski tried to keep the field at bay by moving from the inside to the outside lane.
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The race for the win came down to who made the right move at the right time. Joey Logano prevailed while Reddick was left lamenting what could have been if he was in a better state.
“Oh, yeah, every lap was an opportunity for sure,” the 23XI driver said. “I don’t know — I was just trying to think what the right time to make the move was, and I was trying to do it where me, Denny (Hamlin), and Christopher (Bell) could take advantage of the momentum.
“I just waited too long and put Christopher and Denny in a spot where they were ready to go before I was. So I have to work on that going forward.”
Atlanta was another much-needed result for Reddick and the team, however. After back-to-back DNFs to start the season, Reddick has made the finish in the last three races, and the performance and results are improving, helping them climb out of an early championship point standings hole.
Reddick has been seeking normal race weekends after a rough start. Aside from poor finishes, the team didn’t get on track before the race at Las Vegas because of an engine issue before practice and qualifying. They then pulled off a top-five result in Phoenix and did so again Sunday.
“Well, this weekend wasn’t very normal for me, I’m not going to lie,” he joked about his physical condition. “Yeah, I definitely could have made a lot better decisions on the racetrack, but we’ll take it. A fifth place isn’t bad.”
The motor sports icon and stunt performer will attempt to qualify for the Daytona 500 for Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin’s NASCAR team.
UPDATE: Travis Pastrana successfully qualified Wednesday for the 40-car Daytona 500 field.
Travis Pastrana is about to make a big jump, just perhaps not the jump you’d expect from him.
The 39-year-old motor sports icon and stunt performer famous for competing with two- and four-wheeled vehicles — his resume includes several X Games medals, along with championships in motocross, supercross, offshore powerboat racing, per the Associated Press, and Nitro RallyCross, a series he created in 2018 and is currently the reigning champ — is about to make his return to NASCAR. And he’s doing it with some help from Michael Jordan’s team.
Pastrana will attempt to qualify this week for Sunday’s Daytona 500, the NASCAR Cup Series’ season opener at Daytona International Speedway, behind the wheel of the No. 67 Toyota for 23XI Racing, which is co-owned by Jordan and Denny Hamlin.
“This was always [on] the bucket list,” Pastrana said last month. “And this is definitely not a profitable thing for me to race the Daytona 500. But it’s something I really wanted to do, and I’m not getting any younger.”
NASCAR’s biggest race of the year, the Daytona 500 features a 40-car field, but 36 of those rides are already locked into the main event as chartered teams, including fellow 23XI drivers Bubba Wallace and Tyler Reddick. That leaves four open entries available, and Pastrana will attempt to qualify and steal one of them.
“But this, this is my run,” Pastrana said. “It’s one chance. If I win or don’t qualify, this is my one chance to be a part of the Daytona 500. I’m pumped, man. We’re gonna have a blast all week.”
Should he qualify, the Daytona 500 will be his first career Cup race. But he competed in 42 second-tier Xfinity Series races between 2012 and 2013, including running a full schedule in the latter season. He collected four top-10 finishes in 2013 with a NASCAR career-best ninth-place finish at Richmond Raceway and won the pole at Talladega Superspeedway. He also competed in five third-tier Truck Series races between 2012 and 2020.
Pastana has made two career starts at Daytona, both in 2013. In the Xfinity season opener that year, he started fourth and finished 10th, and in the second race, he started second but crashed with a handful of laps remaining.
“This is bigger than anything that I’ve done,” Pastrana said. “It’s the best drivers all over the world, but especially the best drivers in America. And to be able to line up alongside of them, especially if I can qualify and get in for the actual 500, that’ll be something that I’ll be able to smile proudly about for the rest of my life.”
Bubba Wallace won his second career NASCAR Cup Series race Sunday at Kansas Speedway after leading 58 total laps, including the final 43, with one of the best cars on the 1.5-mile track.
And, he had to hold off his hard-charging boss, runner-up Denny Hamlin — who, in addition to driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, co-owns 23XI Racing with Michael Jordan — to take the checkered flag.
When the race ended, Wallace had a message for his haters as he collected his checkered flag. Simply, Shhhhh, as he exited his car on the track and raised his index finger to his lips. It was perfect and reminiscent of other athletes, Jordan included, addressing their critics.
This win is a big deal for Wallace and 23XI for several reasons. It was Wallace’s second career victory, it was 23XI’s second Kansas win in 2022 and it gave the No. 45 Toyota a big boost in the owner’s championship standings.
Wallace normally pilots the No. 23 Toyota but switched to the 45 for the playoffs, as the car is eligible for the owner’s title. Teammate Kurt Busch is typically in the No. 45 car, but he hasn’t been medically cleared to return to racing after experiencing “concussion-like symptoms” after a crash at Pocono Raceway in July. Busch won the spring Kansas race, setting Wallace and 23XI up for the season sweep.
As Wallace hinted at with his shhhh, it was also another opportunity to silence his critics and trolls, whose hate against him is often rooted in thinly veiled (and sometimes blatant) racism.
And after he won his first Cup race last October at Talladega Superspeedway, many of his haters used the weather-shortened race as a means to delegitimize his victory, despite countless drivers throughout NASCAR history earning wins that way and seldom receiving the same criticism. Never mind that Wallace continues to build his reputation as a skilled superspeedway racer.
His second victory, however, was a little bit different, and after leading more than 20 percent of the laps at Kansas on Sunday, there’s little for his petty critics to reach for.
Speaking with NBC Sports after his win, Wallace said:
“Man, just so proud of this team, so proud of the effort that they put in each and every week. Just thankful for the opportunity, right? Took this jump from an idea two years ago from a text from Denny before it all even happened. He was ready to get the deal done. Appreciate him. Appreciate MJ, … everybody on that side of things, everybody at 23XI. Men and women there, they work their tails off.
“Just so proud. Pit crew was awesome today. We had one loose wheel, and just thankful. Thanks for the opportunity, and thankful to shut the hell up for a lot of people.”
“It’s cool to beat the boss,” he added, praising Hamlin’s ability to earn a second-place finish after a challenging start.
Wallace also proved to be the second spoiler in the Cup Series’ 10-race playoffs. Only 16 drivers are currently competing in the playoffs, and Wallace isn’t one of them (the owner’s championship is separate from the driver’s championship). And after non-playoff driver Erik Jones won the playoff opener at Darlington Raceway, Wallace stole the second race, making it that much more challenging for title contenders to advance to the next round.
Same team, same crew chief but a different car number for Bubba Wallace in the rest of the NASCAR season.
Welcome to FTW Explains, a guide to catching up on and better understanding stuff going on in the world. You may have heard that NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace is switching car numbers for the remainder of the season and have a lot of questions? That’s OK because we’re here to help.
Since joining 23XI Racing, Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin’s team, ahead of the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season, Bubba Wallace has been behind the wheel of the team’s No. 23 Toyota. He won his first career race with that car number last fall at Talladega Superspeedway.
This is another example of teamwork! I support @BubbaWallace and love the leadership I have seen out of him recently. Let’s make a run at the Championship! https://t.co/bVdp7paYGZ
Some quick background: Wallace in the No. 23 car did not qualify as a driver for the 10-race playoffs. His teammate, Kurt Busch, the regular driver of the No. 45 car, did by winning a race in May at Kansas Speedway.
But Busch has been sidelined since July following a wreck at Pocono Raceway, and he still has not been medically cleared to race after experiencing “concussion-like symptoms” and withdrew himself from the playoffs. In his absence, second-tier Xfinity Series driver Ty Gibbs has been filling in behind the wheel of the No. 45 car.
Although Busch is no longer part of the postseason and his timeline for returning remains unclear, the No. 45 car itself is still eligible for the owners’ championship in the playoffs, while the No. 23 car is not.
So, instead of having Gibbs — who does not race full time in the Cup Series currently — continue competing in the No. 45, 23XI is opting to put its more experienced driver in that car to compete for the owners’ title, the team announced Wednesday. It’s a move that the team said offers it “the best chance for the highest possible finish at the end of the season.”
Wallace’s sponsors and his crew chief, Bootie Barker, will remain the same for the last 10 races of the season – only the car number is changing.
“After consulting with NASCAR, we made this decision in the best interest of the entire organization and for all our employees who helped earn a spot in the playoffs for the Owner’s Championship through their hard work,” team president Steve Lauletta said in a statement. “While Ty has done a great job for us in the No. 45 car, we feel that Bubba’s experience in this car, at the upcoming playoff tracks and his recent momentum will give 23XI the best chance at maximizing our points each weekend. We recognize that this is a unique opportunity in the Cup Series, and we’re grateful to our employees and partners for standing with the team and supporting this decision.”
But this adjustment is only for the rest of the season, after which Wallace — who recently signed a multi-year contract extension with 23XI — is expected to return to the No. 23 car.
23XI’s No. 45 car is currently 12th in the owners’ standings, putting it 33 points behind the leader, the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.
Who knew the Jordan 11 would look so great on a race car?
The last time Kurt Busch’s No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota had a paint scheme inspired by a Jordan-brand shoe, he ended up with a checkered flag in Victory Lane. Whether that will happen again remains to be seen — for multiple reasons — but once again, the No. 45 car as an awesome, iconic shoe-inspired look.
23XI — which is co-owned by Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin — announced Wednesday that this weekend at Richmond Raceway, the No. 45 Toyota will run a paint scheme inspired by the oh-so-famous “Concord” Air Jordan 11, complete with the dominant black and white colors of the shoe.
Of course, the Jumpman logo is also prominently displayed on the hood of the car. And on the front and back of the car are hints of Carolina blue — surely a hat tip to Jordan himself and his college days playing for North Carolina.
Who knew the Jordan 11 would look so great on a race car?
The more we think about it, the more it feels like the Jordan 11 is just perfectly suited to morph into a race car. It’s the sleek design, the shifty nature of the shoe, the carbon fiber shank plate. It all just looks incredible here.
The 11 is one of the most popular Jordans, so it’s not like it’d ever be hard to get this design right. But they really nailed this one. We wish we could drive it.
However, while getting to Victory Lane with up to 40 other cars on the track is no easy feat, and Busch may not be the one piloting this cool car. The 44-year-old 2004 Cup Series champ has missed the last three races at Michigan International Speedway, Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s road course and Pocono Raceway, and it’s unclear if he’ll be back behind the wheel this weekend at Richmond for the Federated Auto Parts 400.
Busch was sidelined late last month after he crashed during qualifying and experienced concussion-like symptoms. He was not medically cleared to compete after that, and he wrote in a statement on Twitter last week that he’s “working hard to get back to 100% and it’s [his] hope to be back in the car at Richmond Raceway.”
(23XI Racing)
Since Busch’s absence, Ty Gibbs has been filling in behind the wheel of the No. 45 car. Who will drive at Richmond this weekend remains unknown.
UPDATE: Busch confirmed in a Twitter statement Wednesday that he will not be competing this weekend at Richmond. Gibbs will fill in instead.
Could NASCAR champ Kurt Busch be seriously eyeing retirement?
Kurt Busch is exactly two weeks away from turning 44 years old, which doesn’t make him the oldest driver in the NASCAR Cup Series, but in his 22nd full-time season at the sport’s highest level, he’s up there.
So naturally, talk of his retirement comes up every once in a while, or, as he put it, rumors and questions are “out there all the time.” Even two years ago, the 2004 Cup Series champion said there was a “50-50” chance he’d be done after the 2021 season. But he’s still in it and earned his 34th career Cup win in May at Kansas Speedway, moving him into 25th on the all-time wins list.
However, while a guest on CBS Mornings on Thursday, Busch — who currently pilots the No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota for Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin’s team — hinted that his NASCAR retirement might be approaching.
Busch was promoting NASCAR’s newest move in announcing a street course race in downtown Chicago in July 2023, which he called an “unprecedented, bold move” that could “create the buzz not just for the city but for our sport.”
But while the Chicago Cubs fan is excited about NASCAR’s new race, he said he could be done racing after the 2023 season.
To celebrate NASCAR’s 75th season, professional drivers are expected to head to Chicago next summer for the first-ever street race in NASCAR Cup Series history.@KurtBusch says the race is an "unprecedented, bold move" for his sport — and shares why it may be his last lap. pic.twitter.com/gChP1yJcTU
“I’ve been in this sport 23 years, and this, to me, is like one of those kid-in-the-candy-store moments of, ‘I wanna be part of this.’ And I’m glad that I’m having the chance to drive next year for the team, and I might be done driving after that.”
Naturally, this caught the three hosts off guard. So when they pressed him on what exactly he meant by that or if he has a plan for his future, Busch elaborated:
“There’s a few different options, and for me, the team that just gave me so much respect about a month ago. They said, ‘You can drive as long as you want to drive for us. We really appreciate you driving.’
“Well, we needed to start to look at who the next new talent is, where the sponsorships are. … We just signed a new guy, Tyler Reddick, to 23XI, so we’re building.”
That last line from Busch is precisely why his talk of retirement now perhaps means a little bit more than in the past.
Just last week, 23XI announced it signed Reddick — who currently competes for Richard Childress Racing and won his first career Cup race earlier this month — to a multi-year deal beginning with the 2024 season. Hamlin and the team said they were eager to sign Reddick, but whether the team will field a third car or Reddick will replace Busch or Bubba Wallace is still one of their “unanswered questions” right now.
If Busch really is contemplating retirement after the Chicago street course race and the 2023 season, 23XI already has a driver waiting to take over. If not — and assuming Wallace remains with the organization — the team will have to acquire a charter to field a third car.
But when asked if he’s actually ready for retirement, Busch replied: “Maybe not.”
Bubba Wallace explains the challenges 23XI Racing faces in its first NASCAR season.
Bubba Wallace and 23XI Racing knew they would face challenges as a brand-new team in the NASCAR Cup Series this year. The team — owned by Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin — knew success wouldn’t be instantaneous, especially without practice or qualifying sessions for most races this year as the result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
And with just three races remaining in the regular season, the No. 23 Toyota team has plenty of room for improvement.
Through the first 23 races of the season, Wallace is 21st in the driver standings and currently on the outside looking in at the 16-driver playoff picture. He and the team need a win in one of the next three races to guarantee their spot in the 10-race playoffs, leading up to the title race at Phoenix Raceway in November.
Finishes are all that really matter, and Wallace is averaging about 20th in that category. But he explained to SiriusXM NASCAR Radio on Wednesday where he feels the team is and why it’s having a better season than what his stats show.
— SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Ch. 90) (@SiriusXMNASCAR) August 11, 2021
Still racing for his first Cup Series victory in his fourth full-time season, Wallace said:
“We all want to win, of course. That’s why we’re here. That’s why we show up every week, is to win. But there’s been a lot of things in our control and out of our control that have taken us out of having really good finishes.
“Have we had a winning car this year yet? No. Maybe for Daytona, yes, but other than that, we’ve had some top-5 moments. We’ve had a lot more top-10 moments than we’ve shown on paper, but it’s just been the new-team blues.”
Ahead of Sunday’s road-course race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Wallace has just one top-5 and one top-10 finish from his fifth-place run at Pocono Raceway in June. Most recently, he and the team finished 23rd at Watkins Glen International last weekend. Not ideal, and he took some of the responsibility for 23XI Racing’s “growing pains” in its first season.
Wallace continued with SiriusXM NASCAR Radio:
“It’s not 100 percent execution, and that’s what takes us out — whether it’s my fault or the team’s fault. But at the end of the day, we’re all in it together, so it’s those growing pains that you have to get through. Proud of everybody continuing to show up each and every week with the right foot forward and the right mindset. We just gotta keep pushing through and keep building on that notebook. …
“We started on page one for 23XI Racing. It’s an honor for me to build that, but with that comes a lot of frustration, a lot of pressure, a lot of trying times. But when you surround yourself with the right team like we have, it makes those situations a little bit easier to navigate through.”
After the new road-course race at Indy this weekend, NASCAR is off to Michigan International Speedway and Daytona International Speedway to close out the regular season. The top-16 drivers will then compete for the championship in the playoffs this fall.
The Verizon 200 at the Brickyard is Sunday at 1 p.m. ET on NBC.
How Bubba Wallace — with the help of his team owners, Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin — hopes to change NASCAR.
During Black History Month, with the series 28 Black Stories in 28 days, USA TODAY Sports examines the issues, challenges and opportunities Black athletes and sports officials face after the nation’s reckoning on race in 2020.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Bubba Wallace was playing Call of Duty at home late one night last May, like it was any other night. Around midnight, he saw for the first time the video of two white men hunting and killing Ahmaud Arbery while he was jogging down a street in Georgia as a third man recorded it.
The NASCAR Cup Series’ lone Black driver had spoken publicly about racism and social issues infrequently. Still early in his career, trying to win his first race was an all-consuming effort.
Something about that video changed him, though. The arbitrary violence against a man because of the color of his skin deeply affected him. Arbery was 25 years old — just a year younger than Wallace was at the time.
The next day, his girlfriend, Amanda, asked if he was OK. He wasn’t. He felt a different kind of heartbreak, nothing remotely comparable to losing a race, he said, describing his immediate reaction in detail last year on Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s podcast.
Not speaking out about unarmed Black people being killed earlier was a huge mistake, he said, but he felt it wasn’t his place. By the time a white police officer killed George Floyd in late May, Wallace could not stay silent any longer.
“It was just kind of the breaking point,” Wallace told For The Win. “I’m seeing everything that’s going on in the world, the innocent killings, and it was just like, ‘Alright, it’s time for me to say something.’ People are asking for my opinion — not that my opinion matters — but they still want to know what the only Black driver has to say.”
He opened up about his anguish and grief. He didn’t mask his emotions when talking about Black people being killed and shared jarring personal stories of police brutality.
Bubba Wallace in June at Martinsville Speedway. (Steve Helber/Pool Photo via USA TODAY Network)
At Atlanta Motor Speedway in early June, he wore a shirt with “I Can’t Breathe” and “Black Lives Matter” written on the front of it. And then the next day — in a moment that ignited a long overdue change in NASCAR — he went on CNN Tonight with Don Lemon and called for the governing body to ban the Confederate flag.
Not two days later, NASCAR did. And just hours after that, Wallace hit the track at Martinsville Speedway with a #BlackLivesMatter paint scheme, creating the ultimate juxtaposition — one that seemed impossible for NASCAR before that.
Wallace becoming more vocal about racism and injustice propelled him into the national spotlight, intensified by some things beyond his control. He didn’t ask to be the possible victim of a suspected hate crime investigated by the FBI only a couple weeks later. And he didn’t ask to be defamed with lies on Twitter by former President Donald Trump.
But moments like that amplified his platform, and — with the help of his new team, 23XI Racing, which is co-owned by Michael Jordan and top driver Denny Hamlin — he wants to harness that attention to create change in and beyond NASCAR. The team brings together a young NASCAR talent, a legendary NBA player and owner and one of the best racers of his generation.
“I really became a household name off the race track,” Wallace said. “And it’s just like, all right, we need to balance that out with some on-track success. So, looking to do that here with our future moving forward with 23XI Racing.”
Wallace has clear goals in mind for himself behind the wheel of the No. 23 Toyota, with one of the greatest champions in sports history on his side. But with a brand-new team competing together for the first time in Sunday’s Daytona 500, he’s still an underdog. For now.
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Hamlin first met Jordan at a then-Charlotte Bobcats game in 2009. They developed a friendship — one that includes playing golf with a good amount of money on the line sometimes — and eventually, Hamlin became the first Jordan brand NASCAR driver.
Jordan — who owns the Charlotte Hornets and grew up in North Carolina — told Hamlin that if he ever seriously considered fielding a car, the NBA legend would want to be a partner. It happened to come together last summer, just as NASCAR was more explicitly embracing inclusivity, and Jordan was sold on it, Hamlin said.
“This was during a very important time in our sport with social justice issues, NASCAR really making a lot of changes, and Michael wanted to be a part of that,” Hamlin said. “I think he saw it as an opportunity as well to expand his horizon and his following into a sport that, probably, [it] doesn’t know a whole lot about.”
After three full seasons with Richard Petty Motorsports, Wallace — the NASCAR Cup Series’ first Black full-time driver since Wendell Scott in 1971 — was set to become a free agent. And “all the pieces of the puzzle fell into place,” Hamlin said.
Jordan’s level of involvement with 23XI Racing has been challenging to determine. He was not made available for an interview, and he has tended to operate silently behind the scenes in his post-playing-career endeavors. But Hamlin said that Jordan — who has, at times, been criticized in his career for not taking a stance on social issues — sees a chance to win races and create change within the sport.
For Hamlin and 23XI Racing’s leadership, Wallace has the qualities they were looking for in a driver.
Of course, he’s passionate about racing and determined to improve his on-track performance. But for a team that’s looking to shake up the hegemony of the mostly white male sport, 23XI could offer Wallace a chance to contend for wins — eventually championships, they hope — while boosting his platform to combat injustice.
Interim team president Steve Lauletta said he was impressed with how Wallace handled himself last year amid controversy and national unrest. He’s eager to see what Wallace can do with the top-level equipment — aided through the technical alliance with Joe Gibbs Racing — the support of Jordan, some big-time sponsors and a spotlight.
“What makes him special,” Lauletta said, “is how he handles himself by just being Bubba Wallace — being the only Black driver at the highest level of a sport, how he got there, how he developed relationships with partners and with people, the guys on this team.
“He’s just genuine, and that in an athlete at the highest level of their sport — to stay that way and to remain genuine but also dedicated to being the best they can be — is sometimes pretty rare.”
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Despite 23XI announcing Wallace as its first driver back in September, Wallace still hasn’t met Jordan in person. They’re expected to meet for the first time this week ahead of Sunday’s season-opening Daytona 500. But Wallace said they often text, and even if they didn’t, he knows what the six-time NBA champ expects.
“Everybody got a chance to watch The Last Dance, and it was able to show us who he is and how he is as a person and a competitor,” Wallace said last week during a press conference.
“At the end of the day he wants winning race cars, he wants a winning race driver and he took an opportunity to invest in me.”
Michael Jordan practices waving the green flag before a NASCAR race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)
23XI Racing appears to have the right pieces to be successful in NASCAR’s premier Cup Series, but it’s still unlikely a new team will hit the track and immediately win — though Wallace said winning the Daytona 500 in the middle of Black History Month would be drawn straight out of a “fairy tale” for him and his novel team. His best Daytona 500 finish was his first attempt at it in 2018 when he came in second, marking the highest finish by a full-time rookie driver in the race’s history. It was also the best Daytona 500 finish by a Black driver.
Jordan appreciates the building process here will take some time, Hamlin said. But that doesn’t mean his standards are by any means low. Riding around in the middle of the pack and earning top-20 finishes isn’t going to cut it.
Hamlin wouldn’t specify a specific number of wins 23XI expects in its debut season; he just wants steady month-to-month improvements throughout the nine-month schedule. Hamlin — who’s racing Sunday for what would be a historic third-straight Daytona 500 win — joked he hopes Wallace and the No. 23 team finish second to his No. 11 car every single week. Wallace said the same thing, but vice versa.
“Getting that first win out of the way is always tough,” said Wallace, who’s still looking for his first Cup victory. In his 112 total races for Richard Petty between 2017 and 2020, he earned just three top-5 finishes and nine top-10s.
“We know we’re gonna lose. We’re gonna lose a lot before we win that first one, and so we have to just go out and contend and just grow and show progress.”
For Wallace, that progress is about learning from his on-track mistakes and building upon his 2020 stats, which included a top-5 finish in Daytona’s Coke Zero Sugar 400 in August and a career-high five top-10 finishes on the year.
But he’s made no secret that his personal goal is two checkered flags in 2021. One win would automatically qualify him for the 10-race playoffs in the fall and give him his first shot at a championship.
Wallace’s new crew chief, Mike Wheeler, who’s also 23XI’s competition director, said aiming for two wins in their debut season is “not unrealistic,” but reaching that level of success takes time. However, he also said Wallace is among the drivers with previously “untapped potential” and just needed a solid opportunity with the right team and top-notch equipment.
“Early on, when I met him, I asked about his goals, what he wants to do, what is what he thinks he can do,” said Wheeler, who also was Hamlin’s crew chief from 2016 to 2018, winning five races together.
“He just wants a shot in a good car. He wants to see if he can do it. He wants to have that opportunity to actually go shine and go win races. But if he realizes the car is fast and he can’t do it, so be it. And that’s a hard thing to swallow because everybody thinks they can hit the home runs and make the winning free throws. But you need to put yourself in that spot first. And so hopefully, I can do that for him, give him the best cars out there and then let him go to work.”
Jordan and his business team are taking more of a hands-off approach, Lauletta said, but they’re “learning the sport quickly from the business standpoint” and relying on Hamlin and the racing experts to lead.
But Jordan isn’t staying that far away.
“He actually texted me [two weeks ago] asking about some technical information about the car,” Wallace said. “So I thought that was pretty interesting. It wasn’t just like, ‘Hey, how we feeling?’ And it was like, ‘Hey, how’s these cars coming along? What’s the info on them?’ So I had to obviously go back and do my homework.”
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As Wallace led the NASCAR garage last year in speaking out against racism and hate, the governing body followed, taking steps to promote inclusivity and welcome Black people, people of color and the LGBTQ community to the sport. And with new high-profile celebrities like Jordan and Pitbull — who’s a co-owner of the also brand-new Trackhouse Racing team — joining the team ownership ranks, it feels like change is happening in NASCAR.
Wallace and 23XI don’t just want to be part of that change; they want to lead it. While they’re devoted to pushing for equality and diversity in the NASCAR community and beyond, Hamlin said a “core value” of the team is leading by example internally with the team and shop.
Of course, the team is still in its infancy, so much of this work will take time. But internally, Lauletta said actively working to hire more women and people of color in a predominantly white male industry is a priority of 23XI Racing.
Bubba Wallace and Denny Hamlin at Daytona International Speedway on Tuesday. (Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)
“Access in the garage so far has been fairly limited for people of color, so we want to work on expanding that,” Lauletta said. “As we move forward, certainly you’ll see a diverse organization and team and our pit crew.”
NASCAR’s Drive for Diversity program helps people of color and women break into the sport through various avenues, and Wallace and Daniel Suárez — who’s driving for Trackhouse Racing — are program alumni. To encourage a broader impact, Hamlin said the team plans to work with the governing body — such as holding town-hall style meetings — to brainstorm further about how to be more inclusive.
Whether racism or injustices directly affect drivers and others in the garage or not, Wallace said everyone needs to find their voices to speak out. And the same goes for promoting diversity and inclusion on a smaller, grassroots level up to the top.
Wallace looks to Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton, the only Black driver in F1, who regularly calls out racism in his discipline and holds those in it accountable for their actions while also dominating the race track. He described Hamliton’s activism as “pretty powerful” and said he’s inspired by the seven-time F1 world champion’s determination to create positive change.
Even in a uniquely money-driven sport like NASCAR where maintaining the status quo could be seen as more profitable, Lauletta said there’s “absolutely” room in racing for activists among athletes. With the support of 23XI’s sponsors, the team feels it could help fuel NASCAR’s broadened future.
“We all have a role,” Wallace said. “Every team, every driver has a role in pushing for change and setting up to be the better man in our society today.
“We could definitely be the catalyst there. We could definitely take the forefront. I was the leader of the charge last year and had some drivers rally behind, and others kind of stayed silent. But we’re pushing to get everybody out there and be vocal.”
Michael Jordan’s car looks like a classic Bulls away jersey.
At Charlotte Motor Speedway on Friday, 23XI Racing’s Denny Hamlin and driver Bubba Wallace unveiled the No. 23 car that Wallace will drive for the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season.
23XI, launched by NBA legend Michael Jordan and current Cup Series driver Denny Hamlin, signed driver Bubba Wallace in September to drive the team’s only car. Jordan’s car will bear his famous number, which was last used in NASCAR’s top division in 2018.
Fans finally got a first look at the 23XI Toyota’s paint scheme, which features Chicago Bulls red and white, with the number in black. Although the 2019 NASCAR season is quickly drawing to a close, we’re only three and a half months away from seeing Jordan’s car on the track at Daytona for the start of the 2021 year.
Jordan and Hamlin announced Thursday that the newly created single-car team will be named 23XI Racing. It’s pronounced “23 11” — a clear nod to the NBA legend’s famed No. 23 jersey as well as Hamlin’s 15-year career in the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing car.
And although we don’t officially know the manufacturer — it is, however, expected to be Toyota — they also announced that Wallace will drive the No. 23 car next season.
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They also released the team’s logo on social media:
“Michael and I have a shared vision for this team, so it’s exciting to see it reflected in the team name and on the race car with the iconic number 23 that Michael made famous.”
Wallace is currently driving for Richard Petty Motorsports in the No. 43 Chevrolet, and there are three Cup Series races remaining in the season. He’ll make his debut in the No. 23 car at the 2021 season-opening Daytona 500 in February.
