23XI Racing and Trackhouse Racing are both in their fourth Cup Series season currently. In the time since their advent these young teams have grown a great deal and present the caliber to compete for race wins every week today. But between the two, the scales of performance aren’t exactly balanced to the miniscule.
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In the three full-time seasons that they have alongside each other, 23XI has won 5 races and Trackhouse has won 7. Both the teams have managed to make it into the playoffs in contention for the championship, but Trackhouse’s Ross Chastain has come closest to the title, having been a 2022 Championship 4 entrant. The farthest a 23XI driver has gone is the Round of 12 (Tyler Reddick, 2023).
The most successful drivers for 23XI and Trackhouse have been Tyler Reddick and Ross Chastain, respectively. The former has won 2 races in 1 full-time season and the latter has brought in 4 victories in 2 full-time seasons. Performances from the 2023 season put Reddick a tad bit ahead of Chastain, who did not advance past the Round of 16, in terms of momentum.
Both the teams have been two-car operations since 2022. Bubba Wallace serves as Reddick’s teammate while Daniel Suarez shoulders Chastain. Notably, Wallace and Suarez were the first drivers to be signed up by their respective teams in the maiden year of operation (2021). Between Wallace and Suarez, the numbers present a fairly balanced act.
Wallace has brought in 2 wins, 16 top fives, and 27 top tens (As of 2024 Texas Spring race completion). Suarez, on the other hand, has managed 2 wins, 12 top fives, and 29 top tens. Suarez is the latest winner amongst the two, having narrowly edged past defending champion Ryan Blaney in the Atlanta Motor Speedway race earlier this year.
NASCAR’s youngest teams in the race to expand operations in 2025?
The book of statistics does not yet present a clear winner when comparing 23XI Racing and Trackhouse Racing. Both the teams have been working towards creating outfits that will someday operate on the same caliber as Hendrick Motorsports or Joe Gibbs Racing. To that end, both have, more or less, come the same distance.
Stepping forward, one will ultimately race ahead of the other. Who that will be depends on executive decisions as much as on-track performances. 23XI and Trackhouse are both financially backed by global icons Michael Jordan and Pitbull. While this factor presents a huge popularity appeal, dominance in NASCAR comes down to field presence.
This is precisely why both the teams are reportedly in the race to sign an additional charter by as early as 2025. Sports Business Journal’s Adam Stern wrote this month that the two outfits were showing strong interest in purchasing the charter that Stewart-Haas Racing was looking to sell. Adding a charter could go a long way in propelling the purpose of either of the teams.
But, as things stand, Trackhouse appears to be the more prepared one to take on an additional car. The Justin Marks-owned team has got an interesting line-up consisting of Zane Smith and Shane Van Gisbergen being readied for battle in the Xfinity Series. Whether 23XI Racing will be up to the challenge is yet to be seen.
