Story at a glance
- Michael Jordan and driver Denny Hamlin bought a NASCAR team and signed Bubba Wallace as a driver.
- Wallace, the only Black driver in the series, is also a vocal advocate of the Black Lives Matter movement and equality within NASCAR.
- The team suffered a heartbreaking loss during their debut performance.
Michael Jordan’s competitive drive is legendary, but it can only get him so far when his foot isn’t on the pedal.
“You got to look at people who have similar characteristics and DNA where their desire to win are on the same trace as yours,” Jordan told FOX Sports in an interview with Michael Strahan ahead of his team’s debut performance in the Daytona 500.
Jordan and Denny Hamlin, who drives for Joe Gibbs Racing, were longtime friends before they partnered up on 23XI Racing, a single car team fielding driver Bubba Wallace. Last year, Hamlin debuted a custom design featuring the Jumpman — the logo used by Nike to promote its Air Jordan line of sneakers and sportswear — on one of two cars he owns in the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series.
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“I don’t know if the Jumpman had anything to do with it, but at the end of the day he started winning races,” Jordan told Strahan.
Jordan, the majority owner, and Hamlin, a minority owner, purchased a NASCAR Cup Series Charter and signed Bubba Wallace, the only Black driver in the series, in September. Wallace has been the face of NASCAR’s newly revamped image as an inclusive sport open to all races — despite the lack of representation. The basketball legend said he’s hoping to bring a new face of ownership to the fans as well.
“I think he presents a great opportunity, not just as an Afro American, but in terms of talent,” Jordan told Strahan. “Someone who aspires to be good and all you have to do is support him.”
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Of course — he still wants to win. Which made Wallace’s 17th place finish all the more heartbreaking after he was caught in a major wreck between the two cars in the lead, despite leading a lap earlier in the race (the first Black driver ever to do so) before losing it to Hamlin himself, who finished in fifth.
AN ABSOLUTELY WILD FINISH TO THE #DAYTONA500
Michael McDowell walks away with the win, everyone in the crash managed to exit their cars safely.
(: @NASCAR) pic.twitter.com/bBuR1HJ49J
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) February 15, 2021
Wallace had gotten off to a shaky start — in fact, starting at the rear of the pack after two pre-race inspection failures sent his car chief home.
Bum end. I bailed out down the back saw the wreck happening and got run over from behind. Should’ve bailed sooner♂️
Fast car, can’t have loose wheels.
Onto the right turns
— Bubba Wallace (@BubbaWallace) February 15, 2021
Of course, even Jordan didn’t win a championship until his seventh season in the league — although it’s unlikely he’ll be that patient this time around.
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