Car No. 23 a slam dunk for Jordan

CHARLOTTE, N.C.— 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.

Jordan named his team 23XI Racing — pronounced “Twenty-three eleven” — in honour of both his retired uniform number with the Chicago Bulls and the car number of his partner, three-time Daytona 500 champion Denny Hamlin.

Jordan and Hamlin announced last month they had formed a NASCAR team with Wallace as the driver, a highprofile pairing of a Black majority team owner and the only Black driver at NASCAR’s top level.

“This is the start of the new adventure! So ready! #23XI,” Wallace tweeted Thursday.

The team made the announcements by launching social media pages with a video and a “Here we come. #23” message. “A new chapter in Motorsports. The norm doesn’t fit for us. This is only the beginning. @23XIRacing,” Hamlin tweeted.

The team has not yet named a manufacturer for its debut at next year’s Daytona 500, but because Hamlin drives a Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing, the No. 23 will almost certainly be a Camry aligned with JGR.

Jordan becomes the first Black principal owner of a fulltime Cup team since Hall of Famer Wendell Scott drove his own car in 495 races from 1961 to 1973.

Wallace is the only Black driver in the Cup Series and this season used his platform to push for racial equality.