Tyler Reddick’s No. 45 Toyota Camry XSE will feature a special paint scheme at Sunday’s Southern 500 race at Darlington Raceway. The 23XI Racing driver will have three GOATs featured on his race car, thanks to the primary sponsorship from Upper Deck.
The trading card company will feature Michael Jordan in the center of the scheme. Meanwhile, legendary NHL player Wayne Gretzky and Golf maestro Tiger Woods will be placed beside the 23XI Racing co-owner. Apart from the photos of the three iconic sporting personalities on Reddick’s car, the scheme will also have their gold signatures below their photos.
This collaboration between Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods came as a surprise, given how the two have distanced themselves from each other. Especially after Wood’s public scandal back in 2009. But the two greatest athletes in their respective disciplines will collaborate once again at the NASCAR race.
23XI Racing shared the details of this new paint scheme via their X account. “The No. 45 Upper Deck Toyota Camry XSE will debut this weekend at Darlington, S.C., in the 2024 regular season finale. The scheme is fit for the current regular season points leader, with 23XI Racing co-owner Michael Jordan alongside Tiger Woods and Wayne Gretzky on the hood 🐐.”
This Upper Deck 23XI Racing memorabilia collection will be available for purchase for the fans; details about the release of these cards are yet to be confirmed. However, fans did not seem to dig this new paint scheme and went on to share their criticism via social media platforms like Reddit and X.
Is the Upper Deck scheme among the worst of the 2024 season?
NASCAR has featured different sporting personalities on their race cars. Josh Berry’s No. 4 car recently featured Catlin Clark at the Brickyard 400. However, no one could’ve predicted a crossover that would see Tiger Woods being featured on the NASCAR stage. “Did not have Tiger Woods showing up on a car on my 2024 Bingo card, but here we are.”
Although the paint scheme was good, fans weren’t too thrilled about the forced branding of the 23XI Racing team. This fan blamed Michael Jordan for trying to impose his authority, “All about branding and those are the company logo colors. I’m sure MJ just wanted red numbers because he always has to show he’s in charge.”
In general, 23XI Racing has some of the most eye-catching schemes with their partners. McDonald’s, Leidos, Columbia, and the US Airforce have featured some creative paint schemes on the cars, but this Upper Deck collaboration wasn’t their best creative effort, according to the fans. “23XI consistently has some of the sharpest schemes on the grid. This isn’t one of them.”
While the criticism was flooding in, there were a few who had some recommendations on how simple tweaks could’ve made it a good paint scheme. “I think the red number is kinda…taking away from it. I like the colors and the hood is a brave choice otherwise. I think with a white number it might look better? That’s just me.”
Ignoring the criticism, a few ardent MJ fans were looking forward to this paint scheme and diecast. “Hot take, I think it’s cool. Probably the only NASCAR diecast MJ could sign.” Adding to this sentiment, another fan opined, “I would love a miniature of this car. It’ll definitely stand out in the field.”
There is a difference between the graphics of the color schemes and real-life displays. Who knows? This paint scheme shines well during the race.
