Michael Jordan and His New Team
Jordan is working on forming a NASCAR Cup Series for 2021 with professional driver Bubba Wallace. He is going to pair the only Black majority team owner with the only Black driver. Denny Hamlin who is also a professional driver, a close friend to Jordan, and the Charlotte Hornets owner, will also join as a minority owner of the team.
Wallace is the only sole Black driver for NASCAR and is on track for a career-best season with a 5th-place run during the regular-season finale in Daytona while also having five top-10 finishes. Wallace also recently called for NASCAR to ban the Confederate flag from future events which a few days later was enacted.
A Big NASCAR Fan
Over the years, Michael Jordan has attended quite a few NASCAR races, and the most recent one was the 2019 finale, which was held at Homestead-Miami Speedway. It was the race where Hamlin was competing for his very first championship.
Jordan grew up in North Carolina, and his parents would often take him and his siblings to races, which made him a NASCAR fan, from a very young age. Michael Jordan mentioned that he was very excited to finally own his facing team, along with his friend Denny Hamlin, and to have Bubba Wallace be the professional driver.
He also mentioned that the timing was perfect for NASCAR as they’re evolving and embracing various social changes. Jordan will be the first Black principal owner for a full-time NASCAR Cup team since Wendell Scott drove his race car from 1961 to 1973 in a total of 495 races.