Michael Jordan failed to win anything of note in over a decade as an owner in the NBA but in just four years as an owner in NASCAR, he has won his first championship. Jordan and Denny Hamlin co-founded 23XI Racing in 2020 and its driver Tyler Reddick has now won the NASCAR Cup Series regular season championship.
September 21, 2020: Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin announce they're forming 23XI Racing.
September 1, 2024: 23XI Racing driver Tyler Reddick wins the NASCAR regular season championship. pic.twitter.com/HKtjyTJl5J
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) September 2, 2024
Reddick was leading his closest challenger Kyle Larson by 17 points heading into the Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway in South Carolina on Sunday. Despite dealing with a severe stomach bug in the race, which almost caused him to puke in his car, he was able to finish 10th and win the championship by one point.
Reddick, who has 2 wins, 11 top-5s, 18 top-10s, now enters the playoffs as the third seed. As for his teammate Bubba Wallace, well, he won’t be competing for the NASCAR Cup Series championship. Wallace started on the pole but was involved in a wreck with 23 laps left and ultimately finished 16th to miss out on a playoff spot.
After the race, Jordan took some time to speak to the media when he was asked about Reddick battling the stomach bug, and he referred to his own famous “Flu Game” from the 1997 NBA Finals.
“I mean, I know what it feels like to be sick and trying to perform,” Jordan said. “And just to do what he did, I mean, I wasn’t going around 200 miles an hour in a car, but I’m proud of his effort, and we needed it. We won by one point. So, I mean, he gutted it out. So hopefully he feels better tomorrow, and we feel better next week.”
Jordan was also asked about what it said about 23XI Racing that it had won the regular season championship by fending off the top dogs.
“We’re coming. We’ve got the right team,” Jordan stated. “These guys, they bust their a** all season. Bubba, he fought all day, fought all night, and he got caught up in the wreck. Even though the 14 (Chase Briscoe) won, it would have been tough for us to actually point our way in, so we would have had to win. He put it on pole yesterday. He’s put up a great effort.
“I’m proud of the team. I’m proud of what Denny’s done thus far, and we’ve just got to keep striving,” Jordan continued. “Believe me, I’m not satisfied by no means. He still has a chance to win the championship at the end of the season, and that’s what we’re gonna strive for. With Bubba, he’s just got to keep getting better. He’s gotta use these next races to try to get a win and do the best that he can. But we can’t stay complacent, we got to keep getting better.”
Jordan admitted to having mixed feelings because of the contrasting fortunes of their two drivers but acknowledged they are still blessed as a team. The 61-year-old also vowed that 23XI Racing will keep getting better. It will be interesting to see if Reddick can now go all the way and win the NASCAR Cup Series championship.
Even if Reddick doesn’t, Jordan has already had more success on the race track as an owner than in the NBA. The Charlotte Hornets/Bobcats only made the playoffs thrice under his stewardship and failed to win even one playoff series. Selling his majority stake in the Hornets and focusing more on 23XI Racing was certainly the right decision.
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