Mark Hamill Partners With NASCAR and Columbia to Reveal New Star Wars-Themed Car

Bubba Wallace will be driving an X-Wing themed car in NASCAR's 2023 season finale.

By Charlie Ridgely

The final race of the NASCAR season may be in Phoenix, Arizona, but one car in the field will look like it came straight out of a galaxy far, far away. Columbia Sportswear has served as one of the main sponsors for Bubba Wallace, driver of the 23 car for 23XI Racing, for the past three seasons. Ahead of the launch of the company's newest Star Wars-inspired clothing line, Columbia and 23XI released Wallace's galactic paint scheme for the final race, and they got a little help from Star Wars legend Mark Hamill.

On Tuesday, Columbia released a video online that reveals Wallace's new paint scheme, which is modeled after an X-Wing from Star Wars. The video features Wallace knocking on a door, only to be greeted by Hamill himself, who tosses him the keys to a new ride. Hamill also hands Bubba a new helmet, which is done up to look like the helmet Luke Skywalker and the other X-Wing pilots wore. It appears Wallace's fire suit also resembles the orange and white jumpsuit of an X-Wing pilot.

Of course, the video wouldn't be complete without Hamill telling Wallace, "The Force will be with you, always," before the driver lowered his visor and sped off down the road. You can check out the full video above!

This isn't the first time we've seen a Star Wars car in NASCAR, as many of the Star Wars prequel films were put on cars as part of a partnership with Pepsi when they first hit theaters. This is the first time, however, a car's paint scheme has been designed to model one of the ships from the movies.

Mark Hamill's Latest Role

While Hamill is best known for playing Luke Skywalker in Star Wars, he has recently made waves on Netflix, with a scene-stealing role in Mike Flanagan's Edgar Allan Poe series The Fall of the House of Usher. The actor took on the role of Arthur Pym, a lawyer and fixer for the Usher family who was based on the lead character in Poe's only novel. Speaking to Netflix's Tudum, Hamill explained why he took on such a different role for the series.

"I was intrigued by the fact that they would consider me for this part," Hamill told Tudum. "Why would they think of me? That's thinking outside the box, and I love doing quirky, unexpected things and things that I haven't done before."

"I am an unabashed fan of The Haunting of Hill House, The Haunting of Bly Manor, and, by the time they approached me for this, I'd also seen Midnight Mass, which was a great departure," he continued. "The first two were sort of linked in that they're in the world of ghosts. But with Midnight Mass he went full horror, and I just loved all three of them. So, at first, I thought, 'Well, I'd want to watch this.'"

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