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Gold Glove winner Patrick Bailey tours 23XI, learns about NASCAR: 'First class in every way'

FaceProfileby:Thomas Goldkamp•about 15 hours
Patrick Bailey
Photo by Robert Edwards / USA TODAY Sports

Every now and then the NASCAR world crosses over with other sports, potentially opening the eyes of other world-class athletes to everything that goes into being a professional racer.

Patrick Bailey, a Gold Glove catcher for the San Francisco Giants, recently had that experience at the 23XI facilities.

In a promo the organization cut and released on Twitter, Bailey went through some of the things he learned while touring and working out at the 23XI facilities.

“It was funny, man. I grew up in Greensboro, so like an hour from here,” Bailey said. “I didn’t even realize this was like the race central of America or whatnot. I always thought it was just guys driving around in circles fast, turning left. And that’s been a really cool part of working and training here, being around the pit crew guys and the drivers and just kind of learning the intricacies of what all goes into it.”

NASCAR has done a good job with outreach in recent years, getting more eyes on the sport than ever before. Still, there’s a lot of education that goes along with it.

Bailey would be the first to admit that.

“I was a complete novice coming into it, so getting to know the guys and kind of their background, it’s been kind of cool to learn how the positions have changed, geared more towards athletes,” he said. “I think my favorite day was getting to watch one of the development teams practice, so that was pretty cool.”

Then, forget about all the other NASCAR stuff, the facilities at 23XI themselves are nice enough to draw serious interest.

Anyone wanting a crisp, clean facility to work out at would kill to get inside the building at 23XI, where Bailey got a chance to take in the digs firsthand.

“This has been the nicest facility I’ve been at,” Bailey said. “It’s first class in every way and not only the facility, the people have been unbelievable. I mean I really don’t think there’s a place around here that can match what this place is putting down.

NASCAR shows off its process

Patrick Bailey isn’t the only superstar athlete that has been involved with NASCAR in recent years. Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young also got to experience a few things firsthand last year.

The former No. 1 overall NFL Draft pick spent a morning in June at the Hendrick Motorsports facility in northeast Charlotte, trying his hand at tire-changing.

Young and a couple of his Panthers teammates did a pretty nice job. Young worked as a rear tire changer and though he struggled a little bit getting the wheel in place initially, the overall team effort was a success.

As Young and his companion raced back to the starting wall, they were greeted with their final time: 15 seconds and change, a perfectly respectable mark for complete newcomers.

You can see more on Bryce Young’s trip to Hendrick Motorsports here.