Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan’s Latest Brainchild Makes the Best of Both Worlds

Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan shook the NASCAR community when they announced a new team named 23X1 back in 2020. This partnership was a unique one in terms of bringing about positive change, and the new team has become more than just that. Acquiring a team is no minor feat. Th organization needs the professionals, the environment, and, more importantly, a workspace—one that they can call home.

However, 23X1 did not have its own workshop that could cater to the demands of the growing racing organization. But it seems like Hamlin and Michael Jordan’s plans for their new workshop are nearing fruition. And unlike any other garage names or generic shops just added to the name of the building, the duo has decided to name it “Airspeed.”

Denny Hamlin reveals the mystery behind their new shop’s name, Airspeed

The current 23X1 set-up includes two separate buildings. They initially rented one building, but after expanding to become a two-car team, they had to rent the building next door. It was far from efficient and had a limited space to work with. So, Hamlin bought a 15-acre site in Huntersville for $3.7 million, and now that the work on the new headquarters is done, the new building is ready to welcome its team and the drivers.

The building designs shared by Hamlin previously gave the fan a glimpse of the unique project the duo has undertaken. And adding to the theme, they have now chosen a non-traditional name for their new home. Bob Pockrass asked Hamlin about naming the building Airspeed, to which the JGR driver replied sarcastically. “I mean, we could call it Bob’s garage, but it’s not. We’re doing a little more than building Bob’s garage.”

Explain the real reason behind the name “Airspeed’, Hamlin added, “So Airspeed is just the combination, very similar to 23X1. 23 is Michael, and 11 is me. Airspeed is Air him and Speed me, so we just feel like that’s a good identity for that building. We’re building fast cars; anybody can call their building a shop, but we’re pretty confident that this is Airspeed worthy.”

Very little is known about the newly designed 23X1 workshop, but recently the driver of the #23 team, Bubba Wallace, revealed what a fully operational Airspeed would be like.

Bubba Wallace shared details about the ‘McMansion’ of the race shops

Both Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan are aces in their own respective sports. So when they embarked on a journey to co-own a NASCAR team, the result was bound to be something special. One of the biggest projects and expansion ideas for the team was to build a new workshop. For the most part, details about the ambitious project are kept under wraps, but driver Bubba Wallace shared some mind-blowing insights about their new home, Airspeed.

Speaking on GoPRN live after the Daytona 500 race, Wallace explained, “Airspeed is the McMansion of race shops. I mean, we got to think when was the last raceshop built. Stats are out there, I think, like 18 years ago. So it’s way more modern, up-to-date, super cool, and very open concept. It’s beautiful, it’s gorgeous, and it’s really cool to see it all come together. Way bigger than where we are now, we lose a little bit of intimacy, but I think that’s one of our core values: to try to bring that back a little bit.”

With the new building now in place, the 23X1 team will be even more prepared and fired up to chase their goals and ambitions for the remaining 2024 season.

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