NBA News NBA News, Match Reports and Updates
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Michael Jordan inherited the racing bug from his late father, who routinely packed everyone into the car and drove from North Carolina to a handful of tracks every year as attending NASCAR races became Jordan family vacations.
Decades later, Jordan is now a Daytona 500 winner.
Advertisement
He was an ecstatic team owner during the victory celebration, which he joined seconds before winner Tyler Reddick was presented the trophy.
Reddick paused the party and was enveloped in Jordan’s arms before the Basketball Hall of Famer gave high-fives to the No. 45 crew from 23XI Racing. A stream of well-wishers soon followed, including NASCAR chairman Jim France, who warmly congratulated Jordan with a smile and a handshake.
It was at least the second cordial public interaction the two have shared since December, when France and NASCAR settled the federal antitrust lawsuit that 23XI and Front Row Motorsports had lodged. The lawsuit consumed the sport for more than two years and ended on the ninth day of trial, when NASCAR relented and settled before the top motorsports series in the United States suffered any more humiliation.
The settlement was a huge win for Jordan, who forever will be viewed as the team owner bold enough to stand up to NASCAR’s dictatorship way of ruling the series. But that was already behind Jordan by the time he got to Daytona International Speedway, where he started Sunday by insisting the goal was to help grow NASCAR moving forward and focus on making 23XI a championship-contending race team.
Advertisement
“Both sides have been somewhat at a stalemate and we both needed to have conversations about change, how we can grow this sport,” Jordan told Fox Sports before the green flag. “Unfortunately, we had to go through what we had to go through. But I think coming out of that, you have a much better appreciation for each other and I think it opens up conversations amongst each other to continue to grow the game.”
Hours later, he was in victory lane celebrating as if he’d just won a seventh NBA championship. When France stopped by, it was clear all parties are moving…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/antitrust-fight-victory-lane-michael-184912703.html
Author : JENNA FRYER
Publish date : 2026-02-16 18:49:00
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.
