Denny Hamlin built the ‘Google’ of race shops with 23XI Racing ‘Airspeed’ facility

As Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan continue to build 23XI Racing into a championship contender, facilities are a big piece of the puzzle. In the NASCAR Cup Series, the competition for talent, from behind the wheel to behind the pit wall, is only getting tougher.

With a new team shop for 23XI Racing, Denny Hamlin hopes that he has built the “Google” of NASCAR facilities. It is more than just a place for the team to work on cars before races. This is going to be a full-service facility that handles all aspects of the team’s operations.

“It is the recruiting facility to get the best people,” Hamlin told Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports.

More than that, it is a place his team members can come and get work done in an environment that they want to be in.

“I wanted to create the best working environment that anyone can have in any race team,” Hamlin said. “Ultimately, it’s no different than when you take your kids to a college campus to see where they want to go to school here for the next four years or somewhere else. It’s our recruiting facility, 

“I believe that we really put an emphasis on mental health, we really put an emphasis on making sure people are in the same space, able to work together, come up with new fresh ideas, and I believe that this place will change the game.”

When it comes to comparisons, Denny Hamlin had one in mind, and it’s a big one. Google. With all of their tech, benefits at the “office” for workers, and amenities – that’s what Hamlin hopes to have built.

“I wanted it to be the Google of the race shops. I feel like that’s what we built.”

Denny Hamlin building championship organization

The five-year plan for 23XI Racing when it started was to put a car in the Championship 4. Bubba Wallace and Tyler Reddick both made runs in the playoffs last year in Year 3. Now entering Year 4 of that plan, Wallace and Reddick have work cut out for them.

However, they are going to have a championship-caliber facility to work out of. The facility is in a better location, easier to get to than the old one, and it is state-of-the-art. Every detail seems to have been thought out down to the 23-degree angle of the windows.

On the race track, 23XI Racing is competing with everyone. Hendrick, Joe Gibbs, Richard Childress, Stewart-Haas, Penske – they are all established organizations with tradition, success, championships, and all of that extra stuff that makes puts winning cars on the track every week.

But you aren’t just competing with those new teams. In fact, Denny Hamlin and 23XI Racing should be looking at teams like RFK Racing, Legacy M.C. and Trackhouse Racing, especially the latter. These are teams on the cutting edge of marketing, driver development, technology, and are the organizations 23XI will compete against for the new crop of fans coming into the sport.