What If 23XI Racing Purchases a Charter?

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 05: Bubba Wallace, driver of the #23 DoorDash Toyota, (L) and Tyler Reddick, driver of the #45 MoneyLion Toyota, of 23XI Racing walk onstage during driver intros prior to the NASCAR Clash at the Coliseum at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on February 05, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Joe Scarnici/Getty Images)

What’s Happening?

23XI Racing is one of the most interesting teams in the current charter market. While some teams are making big moves, 23XI Racing’s plans with a potential charter remain largely up to speculation. What would 23XI Racing do with an extra charter?

  • 23XI Racing is co-owned by current Cup Series driver, Denny Hamlin, and basketball legend, Michael Jordan. This team has been one of the most outspoken regarding the current charter negotiations between the teams and NASCAR.
  • 23XI Racing has risen through the ranks quite quickly at NASCAR’s top level. They are a race-win threat every week, and they have an eye towards a Championship sometime in the future.
  • Fans are curious about the future of charter negotiations, and 23XI Racing is squarely in the middle of it. What would 23XI Racing’s plans be with a third charter?

The Benefits of Purchasing a Third Charter

Purchasing a third charter helps both 23XI Racing and Toyota in different ways. Both from a practical standpoint and an optics standpoint.

Purchasing a third charter would mean 23XI Racing has an extra team, which helps them both financially and from a competition standpoint. Yes, they have to pay to run an extra car, but, they also bring in more money via sponsorship and purse money. This also means they have one more car to build a notebook on for setups at different tracks on a weekend or throughout the season.

It would also put 23XI Racing in line with the top race teams in NASCAR. Since charters were introduced in 2016, every Champion has come from a team of 3 or more cars except for one, in 2017 with Front Row Motorsports and Martin Truex Jr. Having multiple cars doesn’t necessarily equate to success, but, the teams that are winning races have multiple cars.

From Toyota’s perspective, they could use more cars on the grid. Chevy and Ford currently have 14 chartered teams compared to Toyota, which only has 8. With JGR already at the 4-car limit, Toyota has to look at their other race teams.

With more race teams, Toyota has more places to glean information for improvements. Toyota also has an extra seat if they want to bring up prospects that are in the Toyota pipeline.

The Hangup with the Charter Negotiations

23XI Racing has been by far the most outspoken race team during the current charter negotiations. Denny Hamlin has been particularly outspoken, and he even suggested when asked about Charters at Texas that 23XI would not be interested without a charter agreement in place.

There is no Charter agreement as far as I’m concerned there’s nothing to buy or sell, but 23XI is happy with their two 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 as said on Out of the Groove

Michael Jordan also suggested to The New York Times that the sport could “Die” without making charters permanent because it would become too expensive for race teams. The one quoted the most in the recent article in The Athletic on charters is Curtis Polk, a key figure at 23XI Racing.

23XI Racing is playing both sides of the coin here. They are trying to negotiate with NASCAR on charters, but, they are also reportedly searching for charters as well, even if Denny Hamlin played down those rumors at Texas.

23XI Racing is in a strange place right now. They’re reportedly in the charter market, but, key figures in the organization have preached doom and gloom about the NASCAR charter negotiations. We will see where they really stand soon.

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DARLINGTON, SOUTH CAROLINA - APRIL 06: Kyle Larson, driver of the #5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, drives during the NASCAR Cup Series Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway on April 06, 2025 in Darlington, South Carolina. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)

Lionel Racing Reveals First Wave of 2026 NASCAR Authentics Diecast

What’s Happening?

Lionel Racing finally confirmed the first wave of 2026 NASCAR Authentics 1:64 scale diecast for Monday morning, with the line of retail-exclusive diecast featuring a new look for the new year.

  • This line will include six throwback paint schemes from NASCAR’s 2025 throwback weekend at Darlington Raceway. Though they did not release one in 2025, this move restarts an annual tradition of Lionel releasing at least one wave of cars carrying the colors of that prior season’s throwback designs.
  • Included in this wave of cars are Austin Cindric, Kyle Larson, Ryan Blaney, Joey Logano, William Byron, and Sammy Smith. Alongside these paint schemes’ debuts in the Authentics line is a new design for the packaging of the 2026 line of NASCAR Authentics.
  • Last season was somewhat turbulent for Lionel as, alongside issues with tariffs, the brand only released three waves of NASCAR Autentics, one wave of NASCAR Autentics Winners Circle diecast, and two waves of Haulers.
  • Lionel announcing the first wave of 2026 early on in the new year is perhaps a sign that 2026 could return this line to its regular release schedule. The post from Lionel Racing also confirmed that the brand will announce another wave by the end of the week, further hinting at a recommitment to the Authentics line.

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SPARTA, KY - JUNE 26: Chase Pistone, driver of the #9 NTS Motorsports Chevrolet, talks with his crew during practice for the NASCAR Camping World Series UNOH 225 at Kentucky Speedway on June 26, 2014 in Sparta, Kentucky. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)

Chase Pistone, NASCAR Trucks and Nationwide Series Driver, Passes Away

What’s Happening?

Chase Pistone, a former competitor on the short track racing circuit in addition to NASCAR’s National Series, has passed away. Pistone, now a successful Legends Car owner, was 42.

  • Chase’s brothers Nick and Tom Pistone confirmed the North Carolina natives’ passing to LegendsNation.com. The cause of Pistone’s passing is unknown. The family asked that media share the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline number, which is 988.
  • Pistone, the grandson of NASCAR legend “Tiger” Tom Pistone, made his way to NASCAR after competing on short tracks in Legends cars and Late Models. He would make his jump to NASCAR via the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series in 2005, racing for Green Light Racing at Martinsville Speedway.
  • Pistone would continue his NASCAR pursuits in 2006, racing in ARCA and the NASCAR Busch Series. Unfortunately, these two starts, at Martinsville with the Busch Series and Iowa with ARCA, would be his last for nearly a decade.
  • Pistone returned to NASCAR in 2014, racing in a combined eight NASCAR Camping World Truck and Nationwide Series races. During this season, his final in NASCAR, the then 30-year-old scored his best National Series finish, ninth place in the Truck Series annual trip to Gateway.

What do you think about this? Let us know your opinion on Discord or X. Don’t forget that you can also follow us on InstagramFacebook, and YouTube.

8 Takeaways From NASCAR At COTA

Three races in, the 2026 season is finally starting to show its hand. COTA shifted narratives, exposed weaknesses, and raised new questions about contenders, pretenders, and everything in between.

  • Has Shane van Gisbergen officially been proven mortal after getting outraced late at Circuit of the Americas?
  • Is 19-year-old Connor Zilisch already ahead of schedule after slicing through the field multiple times?
  • With three straight wins, is Tyler Reddick basically a lock for the postseason this early?
  • And how concerned should the 48 team be after a rough weekend for Alex Bowman?

From substitute drivers being forced into action to points gaps growing faster than expected, COTA delivered more than just a road course chess match. There were momentum swings, reputation hits, and at least one young driver stacking up enemies before stacking up results.

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