On Monday morning, 23XI Racing announced five major sponsors as “founding partners” for its inaugural NASCAR Cup Series campaign in 2021. DoorDash, McDonald’s, Columbia Sportswear, Dr Pepper and Root Insurance will support Bubba Wallace and the No. 23 Toyota next season.
23XI Racing, co-owned by NBA legend Michael Jordan and Cup Series star Denny Hamlin, debuts at next February’s season-opening Daytona 500.
“Today is a big day for us at 23XI Racing,” Hamlin said in a team release. “To be able to announce the addition of five founding partners who are willing to join us in our first year and who share in our beliefs and values is such a great feeling. We’ve certainly had to make things happen fast to build this new team, and I’m excited to welcome each one of these partners and to get to know them better.
“I’m fortunate that during my time at Joe Gibbs Racing, I’ve been able to have a great mentor and see how Coach (Gibbs), as an owner, is able to service each partner. That’s new for me – learning the owner side while still on the driver side, but I’m in for the long haul and will continue this far beyond my driving years. I’m passionate about this sport and I’m excited to bring new partners to the table and bring back others who have been in our sport in the past.”
DoorDash, McDonald’s, and Columbia each took turns as a primary sponsor for Wallace’s race cars during this past season at Richard Petty Motorsports. Root announced its own partnership with Wallace the company’s first national athletic sponsorship back in October.
“To have great partners in DoorDash, McDonald’s, Columbia Sportswear, Dr Pepper and Root Insurance come on board and show their support of me and this team is really cool,” Wallace said in the same release. “I’m excited for what we can do on the track, but at the end of the day, these partnerships and relationships are so much more than that.
“It’s about how we use our platforms to be better humans and help create a positive change. It’s about what we do Monday through Friday outside of the firesuit and that’s a really special thing for me. Knowing I have their support and this team behind me makes me really excited for this season to see what we can accomplish together.”
Wallace finished a career-best 22nd in points for RPM this past season, but also became a new mainstream face of the sport for pushing NASCAR to be more inclusive amidst the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement.
Alongside fellow NASCAR driver Ryan Newman, Wallace was recently named one of the top trending athletes in the U.S. on Google in 2020.
