23XI Hoping To ‘Put NASCAR in the Spotlight Again’ With Michael Jordan Title
Michael Jordan is the definition of a sports legend. Full stop.
The six-time NBA champion and four-time Olympic gold medalist has a list of accolades in the game of basketball that when written out on a piece of paper, would definitely exceed his 6’6” stature.
His accolades in the world of business? Those aren’t too shabby either. In 2020, along with future NASCAR Hall of Fame driver Denny Hamlin and businessman Curtis Polk, 23XI Racing, a NASCAR Cup Series team was founded.
In the four seasons since joining NASCAR’s premier division, the organization has gone to Victory Lane on eight occasions with three different drivers – Tyler Reddick, Bubba Wallace, and Kurt Busch.
This year, with a victory in the middle race of the semi-final round of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Tyler Reddick locked himself and the No. 45 Toyota Camry XSE team into the Championship 4 for the first-time.
Steve Lauletta, President of 23XI Racing, reflected on the beginnings of the organization back in 2020, while taking to members of the media ahead of Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway.
“When we started in 2020, when Michael [Jordan] and Denny [Hamlin] had the idea to form 23XI Racing, Denny always talked about, and we’ve reference before, a five-year plan,” said Steve Lauletta, President of 23XI Racing. “The five-year plan was how long it was really going to take to be a consistent race-winning organization and have the chance to compete for the championship.”
“To have a chance to do it in year four really shows the amazing people that we’ve surrounded 23XI with, that work tirelessly to get us to this point and to be able to fight for a championship in our fourth season is just amazing,” Lauletta added. “Certainly, exceeded my personal expectations, I’ve been around this a long time. Everyone’s had a smile on their faces since Tyler [Reddick] won in Miami and have been focused on bringing our best efforts to Phoenix this weekend.”
Should Reddick succeed in out-dueling Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney, and William Byron in Sunday’s 312-lap Championship Race for the NASCAR Cup Series at Phoenix, it would put both Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan on the board as championship-winning team owners.
As one of the most recognized and respected names in sports globally, a NASCAR Cup Series championship-winning effort for Michael Jordan would without a doubt make headlines across the United States, and likely across the globe.
“I think you’ve seen a lot of different ways that we bring as I said earlier more eyeballs to this team and more interest to this team because of [Michael] and Denny’s desire to start 23XI Racing,” Lauletta said. “I can think of very few professional sports teams reach the level of championship success in such a short amount of time as we could this weekend.”
“That would be newsworthy, and then you throw in the fact that the team is owned by two legends in their own sport that we’ve been talking about, I think it would be big, big news and something that will put NASCAR in the spotlight again as we’ve tried to do a few other times.”
Jordan has been in attendance for two of Tyler Reddick’s three NASCAR Cup Series victories this season at Talladega Superspeedway (April) and Homestead-Miami Speedway (October), so will the basketball legend be sitting on the pit box for Sunday’s season-finale at Phoenix?
“I believe the answer would be yes,” Lauletta told Racing America OnSI. “I think we’ll have to wait and see how all the plans turn out, but I believe we’ll be there in full force with partners and our ownership group and everybody ready to help make this weekend as memorable as we hope it will be as our first time there.
