23XI Racing began in 2021 as a single-car effort for Bubba Wallace, and has since expanded into a multi-car operation. Naturally, they have ambitions, and they have never hidden them. The Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin-owned organization wants to do more than simply find a place among NASCAR’s established contenders. As Bubba Wallace put it before the 2026 Daytona 500, the goal is to “disrupt the big three (JGR, Hendrick, Penske)” and eventually put 23XI’s name in that same conversation. And well, a little extra motivation never hurts, especially when it screams money.
Entering Bristol, a race that has constantly been in the debate for being included as a crown jewel, 23XI’s No. 23 Toyota driver Bubba Wallace was asked why his team performs so well when the spotlight is brightest.
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“They pay better. So when the pay window opens up, we try to perform,” Wallace joked in a video shared by Braking Bob. “I’m kidding. It just happens to work out that way.’
Even though Wallace said that it happens to work out, there’s a lot that goes into where the team stands now. 23XI had already accumulated nine points-paying Cup victories before the 2026 season, along with Tyler Reddick’s 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Regular Season Championship. By June 2026, NASCAR described the sixth season as the most successful in team history to that point. And then there are the crown jewels.
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Wallace delivered 23XI its first crown-jewel victory at the 2025 Brickyard 400, holding off Kyle Larson and leading 30 laps before winning through two overtime restarts. Reddick followed by taking the 2026 Daytona 500, giving 23XI its first victory in NASCAR’s biggest race.
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The victory was particularly significant because it came during the team’s sixth season, just months after Wallace’s Brickyard triumph. 23XI president Steve Lauletta summed up the timing by calling it “two crown jewels in a row, so to speak.” And while Reddick won, Riley Herbst finished eighth, and Wallace finished 10th, meaning all three of 23XI’s full-time cars finished inside the top 10. Wallace also led a race-high 40 laps.
Then, in July, part-time 23XI driver Corey Heim won the 2026 Brickyard 400, becoming a crown-jewel winner in only his 15th Cup Series start. That gave 23XI another Brickyard victory in consecutive years, their third crown jewel in six years, and made Heim the third different 23XI driver to win a major Cup race in the team’s short history.
Clearly, the team is doing something right. After Reddick’s Daytona 500 victory, Hamlin acknowledged just how difficult crown-jewel victories are to come by for newer organizations. But he also suggested that 23XI’s success could become evidence that the team belongs in a different category altogether.
“Yeah, but this is the next team that’s going to be considered an elite team in this sport,” Hamlin said.
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So, even Jimmie Johnson, who owns Legacy Motor Club and also has Toyota as their OEM, has been taking notes.
“(23XI’s) been great to share, especially from a workflow standpoint,” Johnson said. “With the old car, I worked at a place (Hendrick) that had the old car system dialed in, but where we are today and the amount of time you can save by laying out your workflow correctly on the shop floor, there’s a lot to that.”
RFK Racing co-owner Brad Keselowski also pointed to the organization as one worth learning from.
“What they’ve done deserves a lot of credit,” said Brad Keselowski, co-owner and driver at RFK Racing. “If you’re not learning from 23XI, shame on you. If I said in 2021 that a new team was going to break through and be successful, and I read you their stats, you probably would have chuckled a little bit. And the fact that they’ve been successful, more successful than I think anyone would have predicted, is really a testament to some smart decision-making and great leadership.”
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The ownership’s ethos is showing very clearly in the form of Tyler Reddick’s on-track success. Reddick opened the season with three straight victories and then added wins at Darlington and Kansas to take five victories in the first nine races. Since then, he may have had issues, but he still has 17 top-ten finishes in 29 races, and 12 of those he finished in the top five.
Currently 5th in the championship, Reddick is 42 points behind his team owner, JGR No. 11 driver Denny Hamlin, but with seven races to go, Reddick has more than a genuine shot at the title.
So, while many would argue that 23XI has already exceeded expectations for such a young organization, it continues to hold itself to a higher benchmark.
“If you want to be the face of a sport, you probably should have a championship or two,” said 23XI president Steve Lauletta. “We don’t have that.”
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That said, 23XI has also been making plenty of noise off the track. The team was recently nominated for Sports Team of the Year at the Sports Business Awards. They didn’t take home the award, but that wasn’t the only recognition coming their way. 23XI co-owners Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan were also named to TIME’s 100 Most Influential People in Sports list as innovators.
For a team that is still so young, 23XI is already carving out its own path and attracting attention far beyond the racetrack. Now, there’s really just one box left to check: a championship. If they can add that to everything they’ve already built, 23XI could give NASCAR an entirely new blueprint for success.
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