It’s been three years since Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan started to work on Airspeed. The new facility that 23XI Racing launched in May focuses on bringing everything the NextGen cars need under one roof. This is the first facility that has been built with NextGen cars in mind. After Michael Jordan opened doors to the $16 million facility, many sports personnel started to show up.

Recently, Stephen A. Smith went down to the Airspeed headquarters, where he was greeted by none other than 23XI Racing’s Bubba Wallace. Smith got a tour of the place and got to spend time with Jordan’s driver. When it came to posting about the visit online, Wallace got ahead of Smith and announced the NBA analyst’s trip to the facility.

Bubba Wallace’s joke nudge to Stephen A. Smith

Despite having one of the best runs in the regular season, Bubba Wallace did not make it to the playoffs. However, Bubba keeps the mood light and is often seen laughing and joking around the Airspeed. Recently, the No. 23 driver and teammate Tyler Reddick were seen signing their childhood pictures in the HQ. One of the many fun things the duo does apart from racing.

Speaking of Airspeed, Denny Hamlin said, “This [Airspeed] is not a race shop. It’s a place that we work; yes, we put cars on the track, but it’s so much more than that.” Before Smith made his way to Airspeed, Zack Albert said he “wanted it to feel like the Google of race shops.” By the looks of it, the plan was successful, as Airspeed looks like a NextGen facility for cars of the same stature.

After the tour was over, Bubba Wallace decided to put up a post on X to announce Smith’s visit. However, when it came to doing so, Bubba Wallace put a funny twist to the caption. Wallace posted an image of him with Stephen A. Smith on X.

But what caught the eye of many fans is the fact that he captioned the post, “Always love giving random race fans a tour of Airspeed. Nice meeting you, pal.” Wallace pretended to not know who Stephen A. Smith was as a joke, and it caught on with the fans.

The fun post on X got NBA-NASCAR fans fired up

Fans were excited to see Stephen A. Smith at the facility. Their excitement became evident when they commented, “@stephenasmith Do NASCAR segments.” With this, it’s clear that some NASCAR fans follow Smith’s work and that they would like to see him work on NASCAR too.

Stephen A. Smith is a prominent American sports television personality, radio host, and journalist, and is best known for his role as an NBA analyst. The 56-year-old regularly appears on ESPN’s SportsCenter and NBA Countdowns.

“So the social media blackout is over?” asked a fan of Bubba Wallace who saw him missing from social media for a while. Ever since Bubba Wallace missed out on the playoffs, he has been posting much less now. The comment was said with hope that Wallace will be back on social media after going missing for the past couple of weeks. Evidently, fans do love Bubba.

A fan wanted to continue Bubba Wallace’s energy as he joked, “Stephen A is ignoring NASCAR’s existence by asking why the MJ building has race cars in it.” Maybe this was an NBA fan wanting to see more of MJ, NBA coverage from the analyst. Smith and Jordan go way back. The former, as a prominent sports analyst and commentator, has frequently covered Michael Jordan’s career, including his legendary playing days and his post-retirement ventures, such as owning the Charlotte Hornets NBA team.

One fan had a random thought upon looking at the picture of Wallace with Smith. For some reason, they felt like Stephen A. Smith was actually a cardboard cutout, as they believed the picture looked unrealistic. Their comment stated, “Don’t ask me why, but that looks like a cardboard cutout of Stephen A. Smith!”

This fan’s comment plays on their perception of height, admitting, “Idk why, but I thought he would be shorter than Bubba, lol.” It seems like they expected the NBA analyst to be shorter next to a NASCAR driver, and seeing them together in the photo caught them by surprise.

Now that Stephen A. Smith has visited the facility, we would like to know if you have seen its videos online. Let us know what you think of the Airspeed facility in the comments below.