Denny Hamlin has revealed how he plans to divide his time between competing in the NASCAR Cup Series for Joe Gibbs Racing and co-owning the new 23XI Racing team.

Hamlin, a four winner of the Daytona 500, will combine driving responsibilities in the #11 Toyota Camry with running his own team with NBA star Michael Jordan later this month in the Cup Series’ showpiece event.

23XI Racing, which has signed Bubba Wallace as its sole driver, will work with Hamlin’s JGR team on a technical level, with Mike Wheeler, a trusted Hamlin lieutenant, joining the team as crew chief.

Cup drivers frequently run teams in NASCAR’s lower divisions, such as Xfinity or Trucks, with Hamlin’s Gibbs colleague Kyle Busch frequently running his own team in the Truck Series.

However, Hamlin, a 44-time race winner, will be the first driver in the Cup Series to compete against a car in which he is a part owner since Tony Stewart in 2016, when the three-time champion raced for Stewart-Haas Racing in his final season.

“From my standpoint, I am really looking forward to going to the racetrack, and concentrating on one thing, and that is being a race car driver and getting the most out of it,” said Hamlin.

For myself, I felt like February 1st marked the end of my involvement with 23XI on a day-to-day basis, and now my emphasis is entirely on the #11 team and how we can win a lot of races and a title.

“That’s ultimately going to be the best thing for me in the long run, is to continue to be successful, and that will be a good thing for my race team as well.

“As long as I keep my on-track success, I can continue to be an asset and that is something that is good for them (23XI).”

“This is where my focus is now. I’ll spend a day, a day-and-a-half during the week, that I would typically have off in the middle of the week, to concentrate on 23XI, but my preparation time, my post-race time will be unchanged here on the driver’s side.”

Given Jordan’s high-profile status as an NBA icon, Hamlin is also confident about 23XI’s ability to effect positive change, especially given the series’ recent push to increase diversity, representation, and dialogue with minorities.

“This is a platform that is a bit different, Michael Jordan has this huge following, and that following is now piquing and having an interest in NASCAR,” explained Hamlin.

“We have a lot of people that had probably never attended a NASCAR race before that will now probably go.”

“It is running a race team, but it is also about a bigger message.

“It starts from the executive side, we are extremely diverse, so I really believe that hopefully we can continue to push change and make this sport even more inclusive.

“I think NASCAR has done a phenomenal job. They did great job last year with everything that went on, with the Confederate flag ban (which Wallace, the only full-time black driver in NASCAR was instrumental in after the murder of George Floyd and the protests that broke out in the aftermath) they are really pushing boundaries that they’ve never pushed before and certainly, if that opens up the fanbase for NASCAR, that is going be better for everyone.”

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