NBA Legend Michael Jordan made it very clear he wanted to be successful in NASCAR in his pre-season interviews and the new team he started in conjunction with Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin, 23XI Racing, is starting off the season in the right direction.

Jordan and Hamlin tapped Mobile, Alabama’s Bubba Wallace to pilot the No. 23 Toyota this season and the 27-year-old is looking up for the challenge. Wallace kicked the season off finishing 17th after being involved in a multi-car last lap incident in the Daytona 500, but not before grabbing points in the first two stage of the race. He then followed it up with a 26th-place finish at the DAYTONA Road Course and now sits 13th in the NASCAR Cup Series driver standings 17 points ahead of the Playoff cutoff.  Which is the second-best start to a Cup season for Wallace following the first two races; he was 12th in points after the first two races last season.

Wallace is no slouch at Homestead-Miami Speedway either. While working his way up the NASCAR ranks, he collected a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series victory at the 1.5-mile track in 2014. In the NASCAR Cup Series, he has made three starts at Homestead-Miami posting a best finish of 13th last season.

When you compare the No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota team to the two other new teams in the NASCAR Cup Series this season – No. 99 TrackHouse Racing Chevrolet driven by Daniel Suarez and the No. 78 Live Fast Motorsports Ford driven by B.J. McLeod – the 23XI Racing is so far out performing them. 23XI Racing is ranked eighth (41 points) in the NASCAR Cup Series owner point standings followed by Live Fast Motorsports in 23rd (14 points) and TrackHouse Racing in 33rd (four points).

COURTESY NASCAR INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS