REPORTS: 23XI Racing Still Pursuing 2nd Charter After Front Row Setback in Big Boost to Wallace & Busch

Published 11/03/2021, 11:45 AM EDT

After a relatively decent maiden season, the 23XI Racing team has big plans. The outfit plans to field a second car with 2004 champion Kurt Busch at the wheel. However, for that to happen, the fledgling team needs to acquire a charter. Earlier, the outfit was in serious conversation with Front Row Motorsports for that very reason.

The bad news is that those talks have hit a snag, and the negotiations have broken down. According to reports, the Front Row Motorsports team were unhappy with the terms and walked away. Truthfully speaking, Hamlin was a touch disappointed, but he is not giving up hope. However, he did acknowledge that this is all part of being a team owner at NASCAR’s top level.

Despite its talks with Front Row collapsing at the 11th hour, @23XIRacing remains in advanced talks with other teams and is still expected to get a second charter in time for the 2022 season, per people familiar. pic.twitter.com/Xb3zmvcbER
— Adam Stern (@A_S12) November 3, 2021

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In all honesty, the team probably jumped the gun when they announced Busch without securing a charter. Now, they are desperate to somehow secure one for the soon-to-be former Chip Ganassi Racing driver.

What are the viable options for 23XI Racing?

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One suitable option for the team could be the Spire Motorsports team. This is because the team has two charters in the 2022 Cup Series season. Meanwhile, a second option could be for the Michael Jordan-owned team to run one chartered and one non-chartered car.

This is a strategy that the JTG Daugherty Racing team have employed for the 2021 Cup Series season. JTG Daugherty currently fields Ricky Stenhouse Jr in the #47 chartered car, and Ryan Preece in the #37 non-chartered car. With Preece being let go for the 2022 season, it could free up some space for 23XI Racing to swoop in.

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For now, everyone is looking forward to the final race of the 2021 Cup Series season at the Phoenix Raceway. This race will crown a champion, and it will be either Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott, Martin Truex Jr, or Denny Hamlin. Once all of that is out of the way, 23XI Racing will be hard at work trying to convince teams to give them a charter.

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Dhruv George is a senior Motorsports author for EssentiallySports, having authored nearly 12000 articles spanning different sports like F1, NASCAR, Tennis, NFL, and eSports. He graduated with a PG Diploma in Journalism from the Xavier Institute of Communications. Dhruv has also conducted interviews with F1 driver Pierre Gasly and Moto2 rider Tony Arbolino.