SLAM DUNK: JORDAN PICKS 23 FOR WALLACE
Picking the car number for Michael Jordan’s new NASCAR team was a slam dunk: Bubba Wallace will drive the No. 23 car when the team makes its debut next season.
Jordan named his team 23XI Racing — that’s pronounced twenty-three eleven — in honor of both his retired uniform number with the Chicago Bulls and the car number of his partner and three-time Daytona 500 champion Denny Hamlin.
Jordan and Hamlin announced last month they had formed a NASCAR team with Bubba Wallace as the driver, a high-profile pairing of a Black majority team owner and the only Black driver at NASCAR’s top level.
“This is the start of the new adventure! So ready! (hash)23XI,” Wallace tweeted Thursday.
The team made the announcements by launching social media pages that include a video and a “Here we come. (hash)23” message.
“A new chapter in Motorsports. The norm doesn’t fit for us. This is only the beginning. (at)23XIRacing,” Hamlin tweeted.
The team has not yet named a manufacturer for its debut at the 2021 Daytona 500, but because Hamlin drives a Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing, the No. 23 will almost certainly be a Camry aligned with JGR.
Jordan becomes the first Black principal owner of a fulltime Cup team since Hall of Famer Wendell Scott drove his own racecar in 495 races from 1961 to 1973.
Wallace is the only Black driver in the Cup Series and this season used his platform to push for racial equality. The 27-yearold successfully urged NASCAR to ban the display of the Confederate f lag at its events.
Soccer
Arsenal opened its fourth straight Europa League campaign with a 2-1 come-from-behind win at Rapid Vienna in an opening round of games affected by the coronavirus pandemic. Star striker Pierre Emerick Aubameyang came off the bench to score the winning goal in the 74th for Arsenal, which won its group in its previous three campaigns in the second-tier European competition. Roma also came from a goal down to win 2-1 at Young Boys, as did Granada to upset PSV Eindhoven away.
Gareth Bale had a quiet first start for Tottenham since returning to the London club, while Carlos Vinicius made a more impressive debut by setting up two goals in a 3-0 win over LASK. On a good night for Premier League clubs,
Leicester earned a comfortable 3-0 home win over Zorya Luhansk.
• The European qualifying groups for the 2022 World Cup will be drawn at FIFA headquarters on Dec. 7, soccer’s world body said.
Tennis
Diego Schwartzman returned to action after his run to the French Open semifinals by beating Oscar Otte 6-3, 6-2 at the Cologne Championships in Germany. Third-seeded Denis Shapovalov lost 6-1, 4-6, 2-6 to French veteran Gilles Simon.
• Qualifier Veronika Kudermetova upset second-seeded Karolina Pliskova 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 to advance to the quarterfinals of the Ostrava Open in Czech Republic. The Russian will face American Jennifer Brady, who eliminated qualifier Daria Kasatkina 7-5, 6-2. Third-seeded Aryna Sabalenka came from two breaks down in the deciding set to eliminate American teenager Coco Gauff 1-6, 7-5, 7-6 (2).
Cycling
Wilco Kelderman moved into the overall lead of the Giro d’Italia by wresting the pink jersey from long-time wearer Joao Almeida after navigating the iconic Stelvio climb on the race’s toughest stage. Kelderman finished fifth on the 18th stage, 2 minutes, 17 seconds behind Team Sunweb teammate Jai Hindley, who earned his first victory in a Grand Tour by edging out Tao Geoghegan Hart on the line at the end of the so-called “Queen stage.”
• Dan Martin held off his rivals on an uphill climb to the finish line to win the third stage of the Spanish Vuelta and close in on defending champion Primoz Roglic’s overall lead.
Also
Bill Mathis, a versatile running back and an original member of the New York Jets franchise, died on Tuesday. He was 81. Mathis played his entire career in New York, joining the then-Titans in 1960 and helping the Jets win the Super Bowl in 1969.
The home of the NBA’s Denver Nuggets and the NHL’s Colorado Avalanche is being renamed Ball Arena as part of a global partnership with Kroenke Sports & Entertainment. Ball Corporation and KSE announced the naming rights deal.
Former San Francisco 49er Dana Stubblefield, 49, was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison for raping a developmentally disabled woman who prosecutors said he lured to his home with the promise of a babysitting job.