On Valentine’s Day 2021, Michael Jordan will show Bubba Wallace some love and together they will make history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When the 23XI Racing car enters the track on Sunday at the Daytona 500, it will be the first time in modern-day NASCAR Cup Series history that both the principal owner and driver of a full-time team are Black. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Michael Jordan and Darrell “Bubba” Wallace Jr.’s historical union will be on full display tomorrow afternoon, and it’s no gimmick or flash in the pan show. This is the real thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI don\u2019t want to lose,\u201d said Jordan per the NY Times<\/a>. \u201cEverybody\u2019s going to look at Michael Jordan getting involved in the sport. But the first thing they\u2019re going to say is that he wants to win, which isn\u2019t false. I want to win, but I want to be given the opportunity to win, and the opportunity to win is to make sure that my driver has all the right equipment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s going to be up to him ultimately, but if he has it, he has a chance. That\u2019s what I believe.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n It’s a chance that Black drivers have desired for decades. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Almost 60 years ago. that chance arrived for pioneering driver and history maker, Wendell Scott<\/a>. On March 4th, 1961, Scott became the first Black full-time driver in NASCAR series history. Driving on a shoe-string budget and in used cars, Scott competed with the help of his wife and seven children who worked on the cars. And despite being denied access to hotel rooms, restaurants, and other services in the South, Scott persevered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That perseverance channeled itself into Bubba Wallace six decades later. He is the only Black full-time driver currently in the Cup Series and tomorrow will culminate in a day sixty years in the making. <\/p>