NBA legend Michael Jordan is a longtime NASCAR fan, but he only became an owner in 2021. Since then, the team known as 23XI Racing has won Cup races with Kurt Busch, Bubba Wallace, and Tyler Reddick.
But they've never been part of the Championship 4 -- until now. Jordan was in attendance on Sunday, watching on nervously as Reddick charged from third to first over the course of the final lap, stunning his rivals and securing the victory.
As MJ headed over to the finish line to celebrate with his driver, he praised the crew chief for the aggressive call that put Reddick in position to win the race. Reddick had run longer than any other driver on fuel, pitting with 15 laps to go. Within three laps, the caution flew when the leaders tangled and Reddick stayed out on slightly older tires. Somehow, he made it work.
"Billy [Scott] made a call," said Jordan. "Looked a little scared because we were going to run out of gas. Anything could happen. As you could see, Denny [Hamlin] was up there. Little kid [Reddick] drove his ass off. I'm proud of him."
And his thoughts on that last-lap charge? "Oh, man, he just let go. He just went for it and I'm glad. We needed it. We needed it."
MJ finally caught up to Reddick mid-interview, lifting him up off the ground as they embraced. "Yeah baby! Good job, kid," he exclaimed.
Reddick has never won a Cup title before and now he'll get the chance to race for one with the full backing of one of the biggest stars in sports. "It's special, man," said Reddick. "He's dedicated a lot of his time, his efforts, his money into elevating 23XI to where it is right now. He's fully committed to this team, to our organization.
"To be able to reward him with the days like we had today, it's a true honor. It was really cool to see how happy he was. We're all very happy about it.
"He believed in me. He believes in this team. The people, him, Denny, everybody else, has put together to create what 23XI is. He's put a lot towards it. It's really cool in these critical moments to be able to deliver for him and for everybody else that's a part of the team.
Reddick has now delivered the basketball icon five of his eight NASCAR Cup wins as an owner since joining the team at the beginning of last year, but now, he'll have the opportunity to get MJ the biggest prize of them all -- the Bill France Cup.
