Table of Contents
On a wall inside Airspeed, the sleek North Carolina headquarters of 23XI Racing, a bold statement captures the team’s ambition: to become the most recognizable motorsports outfit in the world, winning on and off the track and setting the standard for excellence.
It is not just corporate language. A few weeks into the new NASCAR season, 23XI is backing it up.
Tyler Reddick opened the year with a win at the Daytona 500, then followed it up with another victory in Atlanta. Teammate Bubba Wallace led 86 laps across the two races and looked every bit like a contender himself. As the series heads to Circuit of the Americas in Texas, Reddick and Wallace sit first and second in the Cup Series standings.
The fast start has turned Airspeed into a celebratory hub. The 114,000 square foot facility blends high performance engineering with unmistakable Michael Jordan flair. One wall features 45 pairs of Air Jordans arranged into a giant No. 23. Wins are marked with pizza parties when the team plane lands, company wide luncheons and a celebratory shot of Jordan owned Cincoro Tequila at the end of the day.
“All we’ve been doing since the season started is eating, drinking and celebrating,” team president Steve Lauletta joked during a staff gathering to honor the Daytona victory.
Jordan, a Hall of Fame basketball icon, and Hamlin, a three time Daytona 500 champion, founded 23XI with a clear idea of what they wanted to build. Not just a competitive team, but a destination. Engineers, mechanics and young drivers are meant to see 23XI as the place to be.
Employees receive monthly prepaid vending cards, access to a state of the art gym with sauna and therapy facilities, and, of course, Jordan sneakers. The pit crews even debuted custom shoes at Daytona.
All of it is remarkable for a team conceived in 2020 and launched in 2021. In just a few seasons, 23XI has forced its way into conversations traditionally dominated by Hendrick Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing and Team Penske.
“There’s no question that we’re building fast cars capable of winning week in, week out,” Hamlin said. “Six years ago this team didn’t exist. To build it from scratch and now compete with the big guys says a lot.”
The rise has not come without strain. For more than two years, 23XI was locked in a Jordan led antitrust fight with NASCAR over revenue sharing. Last season the team raced without a charter and won only once, when Wallace captured the Brickyard 400. Behind the scenes, employees worried about what a courtroom loss might mean.
The case settled on the ninth day of trial. Lauletta said Jordan and Hamlin had already promised to pay staff through 2026 regardless of the outcome, a pledge that steadied nerves and allowed everyone to focus on racing.
“They never gave up,” Jordan said after Reddick’s Atlanta win. “They kept working hard. This is the fruit of their labor.”
Off the track, 23XI is trying to grow its brand in unconventional ways. The team partnered with San Diego State’s basketball program ahead of Daytona, displayed a race car outside the arena and blasted recorded messages from its drivers on the big screen. A race day watch party with Toyota in Coronado added to the buzz.
The marketing push reflects Jordan’s competitive streak and his genuine affection for stock car racing.
“His passion for this sport is unreal,” Lauletta said. “This is his competitive outlet now, and he’s all in.”
If the early results are any indication, 23XI is not just chasing wins. It is chasing legacy.
