During a recent conversation on his podcast Actions Detrimental, Denny Hamlin revealed that his team, 23XI Racing, co-owned by NBA Legend Michael Jordan, wasn’t originally called 23XI.
The name 23XI Racing is, of course, a combination of the two numbers most often associated with the two athletes, 23 and 11.
The team is well known for using past symbolism to reflect its branding, using both Jordan’s No. 23 and 45 on track alongside the No. 35, which uses the second digit of each number.
But, at roughly the 52 minute mark of the latest episode of his Actions Detrimental, when discussing the potential for his next child to be born on Jun. 11 or 6/11, Hamiln revealed that this now iconic 23XI branding almost didn’t happen.
Hamlin told his co-hosts, “Truth be known, the original name of 23XI racing was supposed to be 6/11.” The three-time Daytona 500 champion didn’t expand on whether this would have been 6/11 or 6XI, but he did explain where six came from.
Michael Jordan did not wear six during his NBA career or his time with the North Carolina Tar Heels. Rather, this would have been a call back to the six championships he won as a member of the Chicago Bulls from 1984 to 1993 and 1994 to 1998.
Hamlin said that when they were going forward with the name, the team even had renderings of a 6/11 Racing logo. However, during the early stages of planning, the team opted to go with the current branding, with Hamlin saying they needed to “rethink” the name.
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