The last time Kurt Busch’s No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota had a paint scheme inspired by a Jordan-brand shoe, he ended up with a checkered flag in Victory Lane. Whether that will happen again remains to be seen — for multiple reasons — but once again, the No. 45 car as an awesome, iconic shoe-inspired look.
23XI — which is co-owned by Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin — announced Wednesday that this weekend at Richmond Raceway, the No. 45 Toyota will run a paint scheme inspired by the oh-so-famous “Concord” Air Jordan 11, complete with the dominant black and white colors of the shoe.
Of course, the Jumpman logo is also prominently displayed on the hood of the car. And on the front and back of the car are hints of Carolina blue — surely a hat tip to Jordan himself and his college days playing for North Carolina.
Inspired by the iconic Concord 11’s 😤👐 @Jumpman23
📍@RichmondRaceway #TeamToyota pic.twitter.com/cnN2ZFWbWl
— 23XI Racing (@23XIRacing) August 10, 2022
This one’s for the culture 🤫
ⒾⓃⒸⓄ🅼ⒾⓃⒼ @jumpman23
𝟖.𝟏𝟎.𝟐𝟐 🔳 𝟗𝐚𝐦 pic.twitter.com/H0SPEMAcdR
— 23XI Racing (@23XIRacing) August 9, 2022
Who knew the Jordan 11 would look so great on a race car?
The more we think about it, the more it feels like the Jordan 11 is just perfectly suited to morph into a race car. It’s the sleek design, the shifty nature of the shoe, the carbon fiber shank plate. It all just looks incredible here.
The 11 is one of the most popular Jordans, so it’s not like it’d ever be hard to get this design right. But they really nailed this one. We wish we could drive it.
Since Jordan became a NASCAR team owner ahead of the 2021 season, 23XI has turned out some really fantastic paint schemes for Busch and for Bubba Wallace, the team’s other driver. But this one has to be up there, along with Busch’s winning car, inspired by the Air Jordan 3 Black Cement sneaker, from Kansas Speedway back in May.
However, while getting to Victory Lane with up to 40 other cars on the track is no easy feat, and Busch may not be the one piloting this cool car. The 44-year-old 2004 Cup Series champ has missed the last three races at Michigan International Speedway, Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s road course and Pocono Raceway, and it’s unclear if he’ll be back behind the wheel this weekend at Richmond for the Federated Auto Parts 400.
Busch was sidelined late last month after he crashed during qualifying and experienced concussion-like symptoms. He was not medically cleared to compete after that, and he wrote in a statement on Twitter last week that he’s “working hard to get back to 100% and it’s [his] hope to be back in the car at Richmond Raceway.”
Since Busch’s absence, Ty Gibbs has been filling in behind the wheel of the No. 45 car. Who will drive at Richmond this weekend remains unknown.
UPDATE: Busch confirmed in a Twitter statement Wednesday that he will not be competing this weekend at Richmond. Gibbs will fill in instead.
— Kurt Busch (@KurtBusch) August 10, 2022
