They play ... or, rather, race the Nascar Cup Series, fielding four Toyota Camrys — three fulltime and one part-time. They’ve won nine times.
I support 23XI because ... though I don’t have a Camry, I am the proud owner of a Corolla. Despite their powerhouse backing, too, 23XI are scrappy upstarts.
You should also be a 23XI fan because ... they stick it to the man. Alongside competitors Front Row Motorsports, 23XI filed an antitrust lawsuit against Nascar in 2024, alleging anti-competitive practices on the part of the racing series’ autocrats, the France family.
My favourite moment ... was driver Bubba Wallace winning 2025’s Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a crown jewel race on the Cup schedule. The series’ only African-American driver won his first race in 2021 at Talladega but the win at the famed Brickyard cemented his place in the sport, beating the sport’s best in now two-time champion Kyle Larson in two tense overtime restarts.
My all-time favourite driver is ... Kurt Busch. He deserves a mention anyway. A bad boy of the sport, he ended his career — 2004 champion, 34 wins in his 776 races run over 23 years — with a stint at 23XI. His often boisterous run came to an end rather anti-climatically — a seemingly small collision with the wall at Pocono in 2022 gave the ageing Busch one concussion too many.
My favourite current driver is ... Tyler Reddick. Busch’s retirement made way for the little Californian dirt racer in 2023. The man can ‘‘rip the fence’’ like no other — taking the high-risk, high-reward high line around ovals. The 1500kg stock car enters the corner at 320kmh, seemingly facing the wall, before making a sweeping left, rested on an air cushion that forms between the car and wall. It is millimetres from the wall, sometimes touching it, but drivers like Reddick get it just right and turn the longest way around an oval into the fastest. It’s mesmerising.
The future for 23XI is ...brighter now. The lawsuit was settled in December. It was a win for all Cup teams and included better revenue sharing and a secure charter system similar to stick and ball franchises.
