Good morning. Last night, we saw a top-notch NBA matchup between the Spurs and the Pistons. Tonight, what will we see when the Knicks visit the Cavaliers?
In today’s SI:AM:
Michael Jordan is living his NASCAR dream
Since The Last Dance came out nearly six years ago, it might seem like Michael Jordan has been relatively off the radar. Racing fans, though, are well aware of what Jordan has been getting up to. Spoiler alert: The GOAT likely hasn’t had a happier two-week stretch since the Bulls were winning titles.
Jordan is the owner of 23XI Racing, which competes in the NASCAR Cup Series. The team’s name is derived from Jordan’s jersey (23) and the car number (11) of the team’s co-owner, Denny Hamlin. Is Hamlin still driving in the Cup Series? Yes. Is he a member of his own racing team? No. Racing is cool like that.
Two weeks ago, the NASCAR season began at Daytona International Speedway. Tyler Reddick, driving the No. 45 car for 23XI, beat everyone to the line to win the Super Bowl of racing for the first time in his career. Despite being one of the most consistent drivers in the Cup Series last year, Reddick was winless in 2025.
“I can’t even believe it. It was so gratifying,” Jordan said after Reddick’s win. “I’m ecstatic. I don’t even know what to say. It feels like I won a championship.”
Reddick wasn’t done there. Last week, he finished first in the Autotrader 400 at Echo Park Speedway, becoming the first driver since 2009 to win the first two races to begin a season. It was an overtime thriller that saw the other top 23XI driver, Bubba Wallace, hold the lead heading into the final laps before Reddick, whose car was missing its right fender, pulled ahead.
Two races. Two checkered flags. That sure sounds like Jordan.
It hasn’t always been this smooth. In October of 2024, 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports, another team in the Cup Series, refused to sign their charter agreements for the upcoming season and filed an antitrust lawsuit against NASCAR, arguing that the sport had reached the point of being a monopoly. After the long and messy legal battle loomed large over the 2025 season, both sides settled before the start of this year’s races.
23XI Racing’s recent success—Reddick, Wallace and Riley Herbst all finished in the top 10 at the Daytona 500—couldn’t feel further from Jordan’s tenure as Hornets owner. Charlotte never found its footing with Jordan at the helm, and he was largely seen sitting courtside, looking frustrated.
At the NASCAR track, Jordan looks at home. When he leaves the track with a trophy, he looks like the icon who racked up trophies in the ‘90s.
Hamlin, 23XI Racing’s co-owner, said it best after Reddick’s win at Daytona, remembering a meeting he had with the team’s drivers heading into the season.
“Do you guys understand the responsibilities that you have?” Hamlin asked Reddick & Co. “You have the power to bring joy to Michael Jordan. You have that power. Nobody else can do it. There’s nothing else that can bring him the joy that seeing his team [win] can.”
Through two races, that joy has been on full display.
The best of Sports Illustrated
- Chris Mannix was in Detroit, where he watched the Spurs withstand the Pistons’ bruising defense as Victor Wembanyama dominated the glass and closed strong in a playoff-style battle.
- Albert Breer expects drama and unpredictability at the NFL combine.
- Gilberto Manzano names five 2025 rookies who will make the jump to star status in the NFL next season.
- In his latest men’s college basketball bracket watch, Kevin Sweeney says the Big Ten is the epicenter of bubble discussion.
- Sweeney also examines which coaches are on the hot seat.
- Mannix reports that Eduardo Núñez knows exactly what’s at stake when he takes on Emanuel Navarrete, whom he calls a Mexican idol, this weekend in a super-featherweight title unification bout.
The top five…
… things I saw last night:
5. Jack Hughes’s letter to his future self from 2019.
4. Alysa Liu’s letter to her future self from 2019.
3. This Arike Ogunbowale assist.
2. Shane Ryan writing about watching his buddy play the round of his life on the golf course.
1. Jalen Duren putting Wemby on a poster.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as SI:AM: Michael Jordan Is Living His Best Life on the Racetrack.
