On Sunday, Michael Jordan got to do something he hadn’t been able to do since first deciding to start a NASCAR team in 2020- celebrate a victory by his 23XI Racing team in person.
When his driver Tyler Reddick crossed the line in his no. 45 Toyota Camry XSE in black and white Jordan Brand colors and won Sunday’s GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway, the GOAT was ecstatic and celebrated with the crew on the track.
The victory was the team’s sixth since first debuting at the 2021 Daytona 500 with Bubba Wallace.
But it was the first time his Airness got to experience a team victory in person.
“Denny (Hamlin, the team’s co-owner) keeps saying I was bad luck when I come to the track, and today we proved him wrong,” said Jordan to FOX Sports. “Actually, he did a good job by wrecking so we can get up front. That was actually pretty good. But I think Tyler did a good job. Unfortunately, Bubba couldn’t finish. But the whole team did a good job. And look, I’m very happy to be here to see it. Everybody tells me when we win, we can have a good celebration. But this is the first time I’ve been here. And to my wife and my kids and everybody: Yeah, we did it!”
Jordan and Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin co-own 23XI Racing, which includes 2x race winner Bubba Wallace.
The 6x NBA Champion was flushed with emotions and elated to finally be able to share in the joy with the team, comparing the victory to the thrill of the NBA Playoffs.
“This, to me, is like an NBA playoff game,” Jordan said. “I am so ecstatic, obviously for the fans who support the sport itself. And we’ve been working hard, trying to get ourselves up to compete against all the top guys in this sport. But we’ve done a heck of a job just to be where we are. And for us to win a big race like this, I mean, it means so much to me and for the effort that the team has done.”
The team’s first victory came on October 4th, 2021, when Wallace got his first career Cup victory at Talladega. That made him the first African-American driver to win a Cup Series race since Wendell Scott in 1963.
Ironic that the team’s first win, and Bubba’s historic win, came at the same place where Jordan finally got to celebrate with his team.
