“It will change the dynamic”: Kevin Harvick gives unfiltered take on $3,500,000,000-worth Michael Jordan’s ‘rookie’ decision

23XI Racing, co-owned by Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin has expanded to three full-time entries in the Cup Series. The newly-formed team announced former Stewart Haas Racing driver Riley Herbst as the pilot of its #35 Toyota Camry XSE. Herbst will compete in his rookie full-time season in NASCAR's top division this season. Recently, former Cup Series champion Kevin Harvick reflected on this decision by 23XI, amid the team's ongoing legal battle with NASCAR.

23XI Racing joined forces with Front Row Motorsports and filed an antitrust lawsuit against NASCAR last year following the heavily disputed 2025 charter negotiations. Recent rulings have stated that both teams are allowed to run as chartered teams in 2025, and their pending acquisition of SHR's charters was approved.

Although the $3.5 billion-worth Michael Jordan (as per Forbes) owned 23XI Racing signed Riley Herbst before it was allowed to run as a chartered team, the decision going its way has the potential to make his rookie season a smoother ride. On the latest episode of Kevin Harvick's Happy Hour podcast, Harvick expressed his views on the new signing by 23XI.

"I think bringing Riley into 23XI is obviously the next step in his career and he'll be one of the Rookie of the Year contenders with SVG (Shane van Gisbergen), quite the difference in background, everything. But it'll be intriguing to watch that Rookie of the Year battle as they go through," Kevin Harvick said. [14:00]

"It's going to be a steep learning curve for Riley to get used to the car and the way that everything works. I think he's got a lot of experience around him I think having Denny Hamlin and having Tyler Reddick and Bubba Wallace[...] I think that he's going to start learning and it will change the dynamic of the flow of that team. Bubba's got a new crew chief and they got the lawsuit, and they got everything going on, so they got a lot of things changing over there," he added. [14:33 onwards]

Meanwhile, the Daytona 500 is set to run on February 16th at 2:30 PM ET. The rookie driver for Jordan's team will make his second start in the Great American Race. Catch him live on FOX, MRN, and SiriusXM.

---

Is Michael Jordan-owned 23XI Racing superior to Trackhouse Racing in NASCAR stats?

Despite being relatively new to NASCAR, 23XI Racing and Trackhouse Racing have performed at a similar level. Both teams have competed in 144 races, with Trackhouse leading 375 more laps. However, 23XI has fielded 10 drivers compared to Trackhouse’s four, marking the key statistical differences between Michael Jordan and Justin Mark-owned teams

A recent post on X by via Daniel Céspedes gives a thorough breakdown of their updated career statistics.

"Trackhouse vs. 23XI. Nearly identical stats after four seasons. Both bringing in a third car this year. Does one of them pull away from the other in 2025?" the post was captioned.

Furthermore, Trackhouse Racing also expanded to three entries after signing three-time Supercars champion Shane van Gisbergen. Will Michael Jordan's team triumph over Trackhouse this season? Let us know in the comments.