With 'Airspeed,' 23XI Racing created state-of-the-art NASCAR facility
Denny Hamlin looks at his new facility for 23XI Racing much like a college basketball coach might look at the school's facilities.
"It is the recruiting facility to get the best people," Hamlin said.
It's not surprising that Hamlin uses a comparison to other sports when talking about the latest move for 23XI Racing. His co-owner is one of the most well-known athletes in the world — Michael Jordan.
Jordan and Hamlin are in their fourth season of fielding a NASCAR team. Both have deep roots in a love of racing. Jordan first made a splash at a NASCAR race in May 1982 when he came to Charlotte Motor Speedway less than two months after winning an NCAA championship at North Carolina.
The new shop, at 114,000 square feet, is obviously way different than the one Jordan's father moonlighted in as an occasional mechanic for racer Hoss Ellington.
In fact, Hamlin won't call the facility a "shop." He has dubbed it: Airspeed.
"We could call it ‘Bob's Garage' but we're doing a little more than building Bob's garage," Hamlin said. "Airspeed is just a combination [of words] very similar to 23XI — 23 is him, XI (11) is me; Airspeed is air [for] him, speed [for] me.
"We just feel like that is a good identity for that building. We're building fast cars. Anybody can call their building a shop, but we are pretty confident that this is ‘Airspeed' worthy."
Denny Hamlin on why he's calling his new shop 'Airspeed'
With the lobby not ready for visitors — there will be big interactive screens and exclusive merchandise at the gift shop — the team has not opened the shop yet for media or public visits. But the huge facility sits off a main Charlotte highway and is impossible not to see. The windows on the top floor are angled at 23 degrees. The shop is the first building on a property with plans for a mixed-use project that could include commercial space, apartments and a hotel.
"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."
It is the first shop designed for the Next Gen era, where teams get all of the primary chassis, parts and pieces from NASCAR-approved vendors. It's not a car manufacturing facility when it comes to fabrication or design of parts and pieces — this is the first shop made with car assembly of existing parts and pieces as a primary focus.
Hamlin said he expects the team to be able to finish a car about a day quicker in this shop than in its previous shop because of workflow and also that it is much closer to Joe Gibbs Racing, which they have an alliance with for technical information.
"The first thing we had to do is make sure the flow is correct," Hamlin said. "Obviously, we're now closer to JGR so the things that we work on is closer. The way we figure it is we'll get our [completed] cars probably a day or so sooner than what we had them in the past.
"And that just allows us one more day to massage them and work out all the kinks."
Denny Hamlin on new 23XI facility & putting green with Michael Jordan
The still-to-be-revealed amenities are what Hamlin hopes sets it apart. The facility also will include a pit-crew/fitness training area that Hamlin believes will benefit crew members and his drivers.
"I wanted it to be the Google of the race shops," he said. "I feel like that's what we built."
So can the new shop make a difference?
"People like new things, people like shiny things to touch, feel and smell — that's what Airspeed provides," said 23XI driver Bubba Wallace. "It's really, really cool. People are thriving there."
Fellow team driver Tyler Reddick said having such a nice facility with more space will do nothing but increase expectations.
"Having the best of the best stuff in there as Denny and Michael and all the owners have provided is going to set the bar high for us," Reddick said.
It seems that Hamlin has tried to appeal to a variety of tastes.
"Some guys may want to come there for the aesthetic," said Wallace crew chief Bootie Barker. "Some guys might want to come there for the atmosphere. Some may come for the technology that's in it. Others it may help [land] a sponsor. It's certainly not lacking in anything."
The facility, of course, will have an owners suite. Jordan attends several races a year and has spent more time in 23XI meetings since the sale of his NBA team.
"He's not required to be in there at all," Hamlin said. "That's my job. But we have a shared office and a shared lounge area for the owners."
Knowing Hamlin and Jordan both have a love for golf, it wouldn't be too much to suggest a golf simulator could be part of the new facility.
"There will be one in there ... but not until June," Hamlin said.
Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass.
