23XI Racing enters its third season in the NASCAR Cup Series and while it has not been the greatest start to the year, there is still much to be confident about with Bubba Wallace and Tyler Reddick.
Wallace has driven the No. 23 car since the 2021 season as the first driver with 23XI Racing. Meanwhile, Tyler Reddick sits in the No. 45 car for his first year after replacing Kurt Busch as he stepped away from full-time racing due to his concussion suffered at Pocono Raceway.
Each season, there has been something different at 23XI Racing. The second year was another car, the third year was Reddick replacing Busch, and this year it is a third car on a part-time basis. Would the organization make that a full-time entry for 2024?
Related: 23XI Racing talks about Travis Pastrana’s future with the organization
23XI Racing discusses the pros and cons of expanding to three entries
23XI Racing ran the No. 67 car for Travis Pastrana in the 2023 Daytona 500 and it marked the first time that three of the team’s cars have been in the same race. It was the start of an interesting development moving forward.
The team has been preparing the No. 67 car for Busch if he wanted to run NASCAR Cup Series races following his possible clearance from a concussion. At this point, that has not taken place but it is better to be safe than sorry.
Eric Phillips, the crew chief for the No. 67 car and a vital member of 23XI Racing, went on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio and talked about the pros and cons of expanding the organization to three full-time entries.
“I think the biggest con to it typically is funding it. If funding is not there and you’re trying to do it, then it just takes away from your other programs…If everyone is working on one common goal and everyone is working together to make sure all of those three teams are one, then it’s a huge benefit…There’s a lot of benefits to having more cars…Hopefully, (23XI Racing) can continue to work towards running a third car.”
Eric Phillips on 23XI Racing possibly expanding to three cars
It sounds like 23XI Racing wants to expand its program even more; however, it needs to be a decision that makes sense for the team. If the funding is not there, it would be more challenging to make it work overall.
Phillips also said that having three cars would build bring in more data and help out the financial aspect if it’s a healthy decision. The pros certainly outweigh the cons if everything is done correctly.
With the charters in NASCAR going for around $30 million, it might be a little while until we see 23XI Racing expand to three cars as the market is severely inflated due to the next TV and charter deals.