Michael Jordans’ Vision With 23XI Seems Blurry After Denny Hamlin Publicly Contradicts Himself

Charter negotiations are the talk of the town currently in NASCAR, despite there being several months to go before the silly season. According to Sports Business Journal, several teams are interested in buying new charters, and one of them is Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin’s 23XI Racing. However, Hamlin recently stated that there were no such plans laid out at the moment.

Despite a big investment by Michael Jordan, partner Denny Hamlin outright refutes rumors 

Their new Airspeed facility is certainly indicative of Michael Jordan’s ambition to have more cars in the Cup Series program. The NBA legend funded a whopping $16 million to build the state-of-the-art facility, and it seems like a bit of a waste to use the whole thing for just a couple of cars. Clearly, 23XI Racing has plans for expansion at some point in the future. Whether that’s before or after the end of their five-year plan to be title contenders is yet to be seen. As far as Hamlin is concerned, the team is quite happy with the #23 and the #45 at the moment.

“There is no charter agreement as far as I am concerned, there is nothing to buy or sell. But 23XI is happy with their 2 teams currently. I don’t know what rumors are going on but certainly 23XI is happy with where they’re at right now,” Denny Hamlin said ahead of the NASCAR Cup Series race in Texas.

Rumors about teams buying and selling their charter agreements blew up recently after Sports Business Journal published the report. It said that 23XI Racing, Trackhouse Racing, Legacy Motor Club, and JR Motorsports were in the market for new charters. But which teams are selling?

What’s the charter market looking like at the moment?

Well, Stewart-Haas Racing is one of the obvious candidates. Tony Stewart‘s organization lost several sponsors at the end of last season. These were eminent brands like Anheuser-Busch and Smithfield Foods, among others. This made a big dent in SHR’s budget, and with no massive stars in their team currently, attracting new sponsors has been a bit of a challenge. It is reportedly becoming unsustainable for the former Cup Series champion, but they are not the only team.

Reportedly, Kaulig Racing may also be looking for buyers, as they might sell one or both of their charters. It seems a bit unlikely, considering Chris Rice had said earlier that their charters were not for sale. However, former driver Justin Haley had suggested that the opportunities at the team were few, and they were suggestive of the team downsizing. The 24-year-old moved to Rick Ware Racing in a move that surprised a lot of people, but the real reason behind it may be coming to light.

“I was at a point where I felt like I just kind of plateaued. To a point, with respect, I don’t feel like there is a clear path to winning races where I was, competitively, weekly winning races. Obviously, you sign with RWR and I mean that’s not kind of your forward-thinking thing is to go out there and win races but I do feel like my runway is longer here. I feel like there are more opportunities down the line,” he said.

There is going to be a lot to look forward to as the year progresses, and these charter agreements will be at the heart of all business that will be done during the silly season. Will Denny Hamlin buy a new charter? Let us know what you think.