The 2026 Daytona 500 was surprising for many reasons, but for Kevin Harvick, one sight just stunned him in Victory Lane. And no, it wasn’t to see Tyler Reddick’s win; it was about seeing the sport’s and the team’s owner celebrating and shaking hands with each other.

Michael Jordan and Jim France’s attitude stuns Harvick

“Just how ironic this whole scenario is with NASCAR and 23XI because Jim France and Michael Jordan shaking hands and Jim France and Denny Hamlin shaking hands, that is really good for our sport,” said Kevin Harvick.

The past year, 23XI (along with FRM) was involved in a huge antitrust lawsuit against NASCAR. Despite the bad blood that they shared inside the courtroom, Jordan and Hamlin’s association was extremely respectful toward the France family during the Daytona 500 celebration. Both Jordan and Hamlin shook hands with Jim France. Kevin Harvick, speaking on his namesake podcast, also reflected this:

“The fact that Jim France went to victory lane and the effort that they are putting into just move forward and be happy for each other and work together. As Michael Jordan said in his interview, communicate. It’s all about communication. He mentioned it a couple of times in his interview says a lot about us moving on.”

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The lawsuit ended in an agreement, with NASCAR making the charters evergreen, fulfilling one of the biggest demands from the plaintiffs. In fact, shortly after the settlement, Jordan had given a statement regarding Jim France and his family’s importance in motorsports.

“The only way this sport is going to grow is we have to find some synergy between each of these people. And I think we’ve gotten to that point.”

As Tyler Reddick clinched the unexpected race win at Daytona, the victory lane was flooded with the 23XI crew, and Jordan soon joined the celebration. More than anything, this was a major statement about just how competitive the team wants to get for the future. This only seems to be the beginning, as Denny Hamlin has major plans ahead.

Denny Hamlin aims to take over the Big Three’s dominance with 23XI

For a team that was only formed a few years ago, 23XI is rather successful. The team has been working on some major operations. With their AirSpeed Race Shop, third charter’s acquisition, and other investments, it is rather apparent that Hamlin, along with Michael Jordan, is planning something huge for the future. But this doesn’t need to be guessed anymore, as he publicly revealed what he wants from the team.

“We just felt like we were the next team. Like the next, we’re the next elite team. We’re done with that,” said Hamlin on the Actions Detrimental podcast. “We’re trying to infiltrate that, the old guard that is taking over the sport over the last few decades from their commitment, obviously, their heritage of knowing their winning pedigree.”

The Big Three: Hendrick, Penske, and Gibbs have dominated the Cup Series field for years now. Their roots in the sport date back decades, and hence, the dominance. While Denny Hamlin also drives for one of them, he is planning to take 23XI ahead of them.

“They’ve got the best people, great drivers. It’s hard, really, really hard to overtake those guys, but we want to be one of the teams that can challenge that weekend week out,” he added.

One thing is clear from Hamlin’s statement: Tyler Reddick’s Daytona 500 win is merely the beginning of his elongated plan. With Michael Jordan’s support, he has ample facilities to achieve this, and perhaps in the coming years, 23XI will be the leading name in NASCAR.