23XI Racing name for new Jordan NASCAR team bit of balance Army-navy game in December moves from Philly to West Point
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Denny Hamlin said there was never a question about the car number for Michael Jordan’s new NASCAR team in partnership with the three-time Daytona 500 champion. Determining the name and a logo were a bit more of a balance.
The team name 23XI Racing – that’s pronounced twenty-three eleven – represents the retired number of the sixtime NBA champion and the car number Hamlin has had through his racing career.
Hamlin said Friday, a day after the team name and logo were revealed, that a lot of different ideas were considered.
“Some that were way out of the box, and some that were directly in the box when we kind of found somewhere in between,” he said.
Jordan has used Roman numerals in some of his other ventures, including a golf course in Florida.
“It doesn’t matter if we’re multiple cars down the road, the 23 will always represent him, the 11 always represents me,” Hamlin said. “But I also wanted to be respectful to Joe Gibbs Racing and not actually have, you know, the number 11 in the logo being that they have that number. So it’s so it’s just kind of a balance of all that.”
Jordan and Hamlin announced last month they had formed a NASCAR team with Bubba Wallace as the driver, a high-profile pairing of a Black majority team owner and the only Black driver at NASCAR’S top level.
The Army-navy football game in December has been moved from Philadelphia to West Point because of attendance limits placed on outdoor events in Pennsylvania.
By playing the game on Army’s home field in New York, the entire Brigade of Midshipmen and Corps of Cadets will be able to attend.
The game is scheduled for Dec. 12. This will be the first time the Army-navy game will be played at a home site since Army hosted the event in 1943 during World War II.
Navy athletic Chet Gladchuk called West Point a “safe haven” for the Brigade and the Corps of Cadets at a time when “medical conditions and protocols dictate the environment in which we live.”
Philadelphia has long been home for the event, with few exceptions.
It is unlikely fans will be allowed at Michie Stadium beyond the Corps of Cadets and Brigade of Midshipmen.
— Associated Press