Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin’s 23XI Racing Did Not Face the Same Drama Like Dwayne Johnson’s Forgotten NASCAR Team

Several athletes try to venture into other sporting fields by owning teams and becoming an integral part of it. Similarly, Hall of Fame basketball player Michael Jordan did form 23XI Racing. He did it with current Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin in 2020. However, they didn’t face a dram like Dwayne Johnson had to when forming a NASCAR Team during his wrestling heyday.

Yes, you have read it right, The Rock wanted to partly own a team in NASCAR along with Hermie Sadler in the early 2000s. But his old boss Vince McMahon put a stop to this, while The Great One was in WWE at the time.

Hermie Sadler recalls the plans of forming a NASCAR team with Dwayne Johnson

Last year on the June 1st episode of Sadler’s podcast Leaning Right & Turning Left, the former NASCAR driver recalled forming a team with The Rock in the early 2000s. Sadler shared that he and his wife became good friends with DJ and Dany Garcia. 

He said, “They came to Homestead to watch me race in November of 1999. Prior to that, we started having conversations about racing and a partnership so we finally decided one day ‘we want to put together a way to have a partnership for us to co-own a team that Hermie you will drive for and compete in NASCAR’ so I put together things very quickly in a short period of time.”

They had put together a deal and Sadler was going to use The Rock’s name for the mega opportunity. DJ was the hottest sports entertainer at that time. He further stated that Johnson and Garcia had also signed a letter of intent.

He also recalled going to Stamford to have a meeting with the WWE team. They had a conversation about the potential crossover merchandise deal. However, there came an unsaid halt that ended things.

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Sadler shares how the deal ended

Sadler and Johnson would constantly communicate over their deal, but one day he received a “letter from WWE which was “basically was a cease and desist letter telling me not only was my partnership with Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson done.” Also, he was no longer allowed to communicate with The WWE legend.

He had no idea what deal The Rock had with WWE, and who owned DJ’s character. Sadler thought it was Vince McMahon who brought a half, as he assumed that DJ didn’t share the details of the deal.

The NASCAR driver met Mr. McMahon a month later in his backyard of Norfolk, VA. It worried him, as there were people whose livelihoods were at stake over this deal. Thus, Sadler had no other choice other than taking the matter to McMahon himself.

He added, “[Vince] felt my pain I guess you might say, on how I was led down the path I was led to. So I went and explained all that to him and he said, ‘I’ll get back to you in a day or two.’ So I took him at his word that maybe he’ll talk to Rocky and Rocky will go have a conversation with him and we’ll get this cleared up and move on.”

As per Sadler, the deal went off because it wasn’t McMahon’s idea. Therefore, irrespective of whether they had signed a letter of intent or not, McMahon didn’t want him to go ahead with the deal, as WWE owned The Rock’s right.

Sadler also said, “Ultimately, nobody ever got back to me,” Hermie said. “I did see Rocky that night at the building cause he had been told not to speak to me and I was told not to speak to him and all he said to me was ‘I know you’re mad at me and I’m sorry.’”

Sadler later took the losses to himself as he fulfilled his obligations to the ones whom he had made the commitments. He bought the team and sold it over the course of 18 months. “Car by car” he hired people who he had already committed for a job. Moreover, he also paid for them.

After that day, Sadler and Johnson never talked with each other. He doesn’t blame The Rock for calling the deal off as the former WWE star just followed his boss’ orders. In the end, it all came to the decision of Vince McMahon.

Sadler said, “He was Goliath and I was David and he force-fed me to a position where I could submit or try to fight and I did not have the resources to fight.”

How did Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin form 23XI Racing?

During the summer of 2020, rumors spread about the basketball legend Michael Jordan wanting to have a team in NASCAR. Later the same year, the rumors were confirmed as news came in about Jordan and Denny Hamlin fielding a NASCAR team with Bubba Wallace driving for the 2021 season.

The following month, they revealed the name of the team as 23XI. The team fielded for No. 23, 45, and 67 Toyota teams for drivers, Bubba Wallace, Tyler Reddick, and Travis Pastrana respectively. Furthermore, there were rumors of bringing a new investor last year.

Jordan and Hamlin’s partnership formed a NASCAR team without any obstacles, which Sadler and Johnson faced in the early 2000s. 

What do you make out of Sadler and Johnson’s deal? Share your opinion in the comments.

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