23XI acquires ex-StarCom charter for second Cup car

23XI Racing has secured a charter for Kurt Busch’s No. 45 Toyota team.

“All of that closed actually today,” team president Steve Lauletta told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio on Tuesday. “We have the charter we needed and wanted for the 45, so both of our cars will have charters for next season and beyond.”

The news of the charter came on the same day that 23XI Racing announced multiple competition hires. Those included naming Billy Scott as Busch’s crew chief in a move that reunites the two, as they previously worked together at Stewart-Haas Racing. Another hire is newly-crowned Xfinity Series championship crew chief Dave Rogers joining the company as the performance director.

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23XI Racing expanded into a two-car operation to add former Cup Series champion Busch alongside Darrell Wallace Jr. and Bootie Barker on the No. 23 team. The 2022 season will be the organization’s second year competing in the NASCAR Cup Series.

StarCom Racing sold its charter as part of the decision to shut down its single-car program, which was announced in a goodbye letter to their fans on the weekend of the season finale at Phoenix Raceway. Spire Motorsports purchased other assets from StarCom.

“It’s an interesting process in terms of trying to make sure everything is aligned both from our desire to get the right package in terms of what goes into purchasing the charter, and then for the seller to get the right package on their end,” said Lauletta. “We were lucky enough to work with StarCom, and they also have some things going with Spire with equipment and other pieces. So, the three of us kind of got together and we now have the charter that we need on the 45.”