23XI Racing
23XI Racing Team Information
Car No. | Driver(s) | Manufacturer |
|---|---|---|
23 | Bubba Wallace | Toyota |
45 | Tyler Reddick | Toyota |
50 | Kamui Kobayashi | Toyota |
In a late-night press release on September 21, 2020, Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan revealed that they would field a brand new NASCAR Cup Series team named 23XI (23, Michael Jordan's iconic number, XI representing Hamlin's No. 11) Racing in 2021.
Hamlin and Jordan selected Bubba Wallace as the driver of the team's No. 23 Toyota Camry for the organization's maiden season in the NASCAR Cup Series. As the team embarks on its fourth season, Wallace remains the driver of the No. 23 Toyota Camry XSE and he is joined by Tyler Reddick in the team's No. 45 Toyota.
Reddick was initially slated to join the 23XI Racing following in 2024, but 23XI Racing sped up the process by buying Reddick out of his contract with Richard Childress Racing at the end of the 2022 season after Kurt Busch, 23XI's driver of the No. 45 suffered a career-ending injury in a qualifying crash at Pocono Raceway.
The 2018 and 2019 NASCAR Xfinity Series champion has blossomed into one of the top drivers in the NASCAR Cup Series with 23XI Racing as he won two races to bring his career total to five and finished a career-best sixth in the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series championship standings. Wallace has also improved steadily as he has scored two race wins for the team since 2021, and also secured his first-career NASCAR Cup Series Playoff berth in 2023.
The team also fields a part-time entry, which will feature the number 50 in 2024 with a mixture of drivers including road racing aces Kamui Kobayashi and Juan Pablo Montoya as well as rising star Corey Heim.
Toby Christie is the Editor-in-Chief of Racing America. He has 15 years of experience as a motorsports journalist and has been with Racing America since 2023.