NASCAR fans are indeed demanding in terms of how their favorite race team presents itself on the racetrack. One of the best ways to incorporate the team’s identity and the sponsors onboard is through the paint schemes. And, with the 2025 season inching closer with every day, teams are finally sharing their first glimpses of their race cars.

For the most part, 23XI Racing has had some cool-looking paint schemes. The Jordan brand livery, along with Monster and McDonald’s, often delivers the goods. However, this time, a rather bland and simplistic design has rubbed the 23XI fans wrong. And they certainly made their feelings heard; co-owner Denny Hamlin also weighed in and shared his perspective on going with minimalistic designs.

Denny Hamlin respects fans’ opinion

We all know Hamlin can sometimes get overboard in making his point across to the fans. The rival camps were treated with “I beat your favorite driver” during the 2023 season. It is fair to say he is indeed a polarizing figure or the villain figure of NASCAR. He enjoys good support from his ardent support group, Joe Gibbs Racing, 23XI, and the Toyota camp. But the lackluster paint schemes on the No. 23 and No. 45 Camry have become a topic of debate online between Hamlin and his fans. “We try to keep it simple and sleek. Busy cars don’t show up on racetracks but look great in renderings.” Hamlin wrote on X.

23XI Racing shared the Leidos paint scheme for the #23 car and the Jordan Brand scheme for the #45 car. There was a simple design on Bubba Wallace’s race car with the entire body of the #23 car painted in white and just the car number and branding painted in purple. Meanwhile, Tyler Reddick #45 has a similar style with the entire car painted in white, along with black and red shades to the Jordan logo and the car number.

Clearly, fans weren’t convinced with what they saw and expected a better output from the 23XI Racing team. “I think most of us fans especially of you and 23xi would have to respectfully disagree.” A fan wrote in response to Hamlin’s comment, to which the veteran driver added, “That’s okay. I respect the peoples opinion as well.” This was indeed surprising to see Hamlin not responding with a witty comment but acknowledging the fans can have a different perspective.

However, the social media team at 23XI Racing stirred up a controversy with the paint scheme on the Reddick #45 Camry. Going by the reactions and screen grabs on social media, it looks like 23XI Racing had put out a statement and had “UNBANNABLE” printed on the back of the race car.

23XI Racing throwing shade at NASCAR?

Now we all know that NASCAR and 23XI Racing are at loggerheads over the antitrust lawsuit. Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin declined to sign the charter agreement, citing monopolistic policies, and took NASCAR to court. There was a possibility of the team losing out on their charters, but the injunction favored them. Allowing 23XI to continue as a chartered organization in 2025 until the dispute with NASCAR is settled.

Well, we have seen both Hamlin and Jordan be outspoken about their differences with NASCAR. But it looks like they are now taunting the governing body after they failed in their plans to restrict them to racing as a chartered team in 2025. Reddick’s #45 car had the Jumpman logo and the bold message “UNBANNABLE” on the rear bumper. But, in a surprising turn of events, this social media post was deleted and replaced.

While this may look like a taunt to NASCAR, it is also a celebration of a throwback ‘taunt’ to Jordan’s NBA days. Back when the first Air Jordan sneaker was released during the 1984/85 season, Jordan’s rookie year, the design for the shoe was red and black. The NBA had a rule that the show had to be 51% white to match with teammates. Jordan, being the ‘alpha’ he always was, still wore them on the court and took the fine. Due to Jordan’s stellar rookie season, the shoes became so popular that it didn’t matter that he couldn’t wear them on the court, thus the term ‘UNBANNABLE’. An homage to 40 years since the breakthrough season of the iconic brand.

Why was it deleted? Well, the fans also had multiple theories on what this message meant. Was this a publicity stunt? Or did this bold message rub NASCAR the wrong way? Well, nothing can be said for certain. But these antic by 23XI Racing has certainly got the fans talking, which is the perfect build ahead of the Cookout Clash.