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What we know about Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin’s NASCAR team and how it will work

The NASCAR team co-owned by Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin — 23XI Racing — unveiled its No. 23 car paint scheme Friday on “CBS This Morning.”

The team also announced an alliance with Toyota and Joe Gibbs Racing, and provided insight into its business operations and long-term goals as it prepares to debut its Cup car at the 2021 season-opening Daytona 500.

Toyota Racing Development will build the team’s engines and provide technology, data and technical assistance. Hamlin’s JGR team will supply the chassis and other services.

“It’s a good way for me to continue my partnership with Toyota some more,” Hamlin said on “CBS This Morning.” “And I’ve been with them now for 13 years, over 40 wins with. This is just a way to carry over that legacy.”

NASCAR team 23XI Racing, co-owned by NBA legend Michael Jordan and Cup Series driver Denny Hamlin, will make its debut in the 2021 Daytona 500 with Bubba Wallace piloting the No. 23 Toyota Camry.
NASCAR team 23XI Racing, co-owned by NBA legend Michael Jordan and Cup Series driver Denny Hamlin, will make its debut in the 2021 Daytona 500 with Bubba Wallace piloting the No. 23 Toyota Camry.

The team will operate out of a shop in Mooresville, N.C., housed by Germain Racing, which sold its Cup charter to Hamlin and Jordan to field the No. 23 car in the series next season. But Hamlin said the team is planning to eventually relocate its home base. He also said 23XI Racing is looking ahead to expanding to a multi-car operation, but did not provide a timeline for when he will purchase a second charter.

“Everything is working in fast-forward right now for us behind the scenes,” Hamlin said. “But, yeah, certainly the vision is to go to multiple cars as soon as possible.”

Hamlin said that his entry into team ownership and his eventual expansion plans developed out of his confidence in NASCAR’s business model, which has been criticized by some members of the industry after smaller teams, such as Leavine Family Racing (a Toyota-backed team and Gibbs partner) and Germain Racing became the latest teams to announce their exit from the sport after the season.

Hamlin said he believes 23XI will eventually be able to stand on its own, without leaning on a JGR alliance, thanks in part to the cost-cutting benefits of the Next Gen inventory entering the sport in 2022. His confidence in the sustainability of his team also stems from knowing that Jordan’s team of business advisers spent weeks analyzing the current and future NASCAR business model, Hamlin said, and deemed it a viable investment.

“That gave me the confidence,” Hamlin said. “Because you don’t see him diving into many other businesses. He’s very, very stringent when it comes to that, because the name and the brand is so important.”

Hamlin said he plans to rely on a combination of his “insider knowledge” of NASCAR and Jordan’s “star power” to set the team up for success. JGR fields four cars in the Cup Series, one of which is driven by Hamlin. The No. 11 driver has raced Toyota equipment for more than a decade with JGR, scoring 41 of his 44 career Cup wins in a Camry.

TALLADEGA, ALABAMA - OCTOBER 04: Denny Hamlin, driver of the #11 FedEx Express Toyota, pits during the NASCAR Cup Series YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway on October 04, 2020 in Talladega, Alabama. (Photo by Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images)
TALLADEGA, ALABAMA - OCTOBER 04: Denny Hamlin, driver of the #11 FedEx Express Toyota, pits during the NASCAR Cup Series YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway on October 04, 2020 in Talladega, Alabama. (Photo by Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images)

While at least the first season for the team will rely on JGR’s chassis and guidance, 23XI Racing is operating with a separate staff and vendors, and had to purchase the cars from JGR, which Hamlin said allowed NASCAR to approve the alliance and ensure that the team will not operate as a fifth team for Gibbs.

Instead, Hamlin said the goal is for the No. 23 car, driven by Bubba Wallace, to be competing against Hamlin for race wins next season. Wallace will return to Toyota equipment after finishing out the season with Richard Petty Motorsports in the No. 43 Chevrolet. Mike Wheeler, the competition director for Leavine Family Racing and Hamlin’s previous crew chief, will be the No. 23 crew chief next season.

Wallace began his relationship with Toyota in 2011 in a lower-level NASCAR series. He last raced Toyota equipment with Kyle Busch Motorsports in the Truck Series and with JGR in the Xfinity Series in 2014.

It will be a shift for the 27-year-old driver, who said he’s aware of the pressure to perform with two big names backing him.

Bubba Wallace, driver of the #43 Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet, wears a “I Can’t Breathe - Black Lives Matter” t-shirt under his fire suit in solidarity with protesters around the world taking to the streets after the death of George Floyd on May 25, speaks to the media prior to the NASCAR Cup Series Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway on June 10, 2020 in Martinsville, Virginia.

“This is an exciting opportunity that’s been put in front of me that I have to capitalize on,” Wallace said on “CBS This Morning.” “Being part of a team with Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin. 23XI. Partnership with Toyota. It’s coming together quite nice.”

Jordan said he has high expectations for the team.

“My main goal for 23XI Racing is to be competitive for a championship as soon as possible,” a statement from Jordan said. “Our partnership with Toyota and Joe Gibbs Racing gives us the equipment, resources and expertise to do it.”

Wallace has three top-five finishes in the Cup series but is still seeking his first win. Even without a winning Cup record, Wallace’s advocacy for Black Lives Matter, which has promoted him to a household name this year, combined with Jordan’s presence, has generated a surplus of sponsorship interest in the team, Hamlin said. Wallace is the only Black driver in the Cup Series, and Jordan is the only Black principal team owner in NASCAR.

“We’re very blessed to have one of the more iconic people in the entire planet as our team owner,” Hamlin said. “So we’re having great meetings. I believe if anything in year one we’re going to have an inventory instead of a sponsorship problem.”

FILE - In this Jan. 3, 1991, file photo, Michael Jordan (23) of the Chicago Bulls drives the lane for a finger roll lay-up over Otis Thorpe, left, and Vernon Maxwell, right, of the Houston Rockets in the first half in Houston, Texas. Picking the car number for Michael Jordan’s new NASCAR team was a slam dunk: Bubba Wallace will drive the No. 23 car when the team makes its debut next season. (AP Photo/David Scarbrough, File)

The “inventory problem” being that there are more interested sponsors than number of NASCAR races in a season, Hamlin explained. He said the goal is to find a primary sponsor that will come to be associated with the No. 23 car, such as JGR’s long-term partnership with FedEx, which is the primary sponsor for Hamlin’s No. 11. Hamlin said he expects to be able to land a deal like that and that the team has been fielding interest from some “big companies.”

Of the announced partners backing 23XI Racing, Toyota said it is willing to give its full support to ensuring the operation is able to get off the ground.

“Each team comes to the plate with different needs, different resources, different assets and there’s not a standard template, one-size fits all,” said David Wilson, president of Toyota Racing Development. “With Michael and Denny, given that this is a true start-up, they’re really putting the building blocks in place right now.”

“So I think the role that we’ll play is going to be even more critical,” Wilson said.

Before the team is able to look ahead to two cars, winning championships or even first hitting the track in February, it still has short-term to-do items. Hamlin said the next important step is building the team’s foundation by hiring the right people.

“And we’ll build it up from there,” he said.

HOW TO WATCH NASCAR RACE AT MARTINSVILLE

  • Race: Xfinity 500

  • Distance: 263 miles, 500 laps (stages end on Laps 130, 260, 500. The track is 0.526 miles.

  • When: Sunday 2 p.m.

  • TV: NBC (broadcast starts at 1:30 p.m.)

  • Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio