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Back in 2023, Kurt Busch touched upon the mounted pressure on Bubba Wallace due to Michael Jordan's presence in the team. Jordan co-owns the 23XI Racing alongside Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin, and according to Busch, the former's presence in the team made things "tough" for Wallace, that too "in all directions."
Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin formed the 23XI Racing in 2021. The name of the team has come from Jordan's number from his basketball days, and Hamlin's racing number in NASCAR. Initially, they fielded two full-time cars — the #45 for Kurt Busch and #23 for Bubba Wallace.
However, from 2025, 23XI will run the third full-time car after they signed Riley Herbst recently. Busch ran with 23XI till the end of 2022, following which Tyler Reddick took over the #45 car. As of 2024, Wallace and Reddick ran in the #23 and #45 cars for 23XI Racing.
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Interestingly, Wallace's car number has come from Jordan's number from his basketball days. Reiterating this, Busch believed that the presence of Jordan in the 23XI team put pressure on Wallace.
Last year, he attended the Stacking Pennies podcast with Corey LaJoie, where he said:
"It's good in all directions, but it's also tough in all directions. I mean MJ demands performance. I mean he is the greatest of all time in the NBA, and what he has done in his legacy in sports, it's huge. You have to have a humble approach when you talk with Michael, when you meet with the team, and there's the people that are around him as well." (29:50 onwards)
"The time that I got to meet him or interview with him, he's like 'we'll win together, he puts his hand on the table, and I'm like oh my god, 'that's like two of my hands, no wonder he could do anything with the ball he wanted to, yeah and I'm like 'yes sir, that's what we're here do to, like let's roll."
Bubba Wallace joined 23XI Racing from Richard Petty Motorsports in 2021 after spending four years with Richard Petty's team. When he arrived at the Huntersville-based team, he became one of its pillars right from the start as he claimed his first Cup Series victory with them.
Bubba Wallace hailed 23XI Racing co-owner and NBA legend Michael Jordan
The driver of the #23 Toyota Camry XSE of 23XI Racing, Bubba Wallace, hailed the co-owner of his team. In one of his recent interviews, Wallace appreciated the easy-to-go attitude of the NBA legend. Here's what he said:
"He's competitive. He's a lot of fun, he's a guy that you can take jabs at, and he'll dish it right back, so you have to have thick skin. That's how I was brought up and raised, and trash talk is half the game, and he's probably one of the best to do it."
Bubba Wallace finished the 2024 Cup Series season in 18th place with 878 points. He claimed six Top 5s, 14 Top 10s, and faced three DNFs. He claimed two stage wins and led 312 laps.
His average start position was 14.861 and his average finish position was 15.278. The 31-year-old driver failed to claim a victory this season, and qualify for the playoffs, whereas his teammate Tyler Reddick won the regular season championship.
