MJ is into racing again

ONCE upon a time after retirement, basketball legend and billionaire Michael Jordan had a superbike motorcycle team, appropriately named Michael Jordan Motorsports (MJ had this thing for racing as his parents took him and his brothers and sisters to races while growing up). But after a few years, the venture folded because it failed to get the needed sponsorships, notwithstanding MJ’s vast resources.

And now, he’s back, this time with the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR), partnering with three-time Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin. The team is called 23XI Racing, pronounced twenty- three eleven in obvious reference to MJ’s retired number and Hamlin’s car number which he had for so long.

MJ’s connection with Hamlin began in 2008. Jordan had just invested in the Charlotte Bobcats when it was still a new NBA franchise. An avid basketball fan, Hamlin was courtside at the new arena during one home game when a security guard approached him at halftime and said Jordan wanted to meet him. Long story short, a friendship was formed between them. Hamlin began sporting the Jumpman logo on his racing suits and wearing custom- made Jordan racing shoes. Naturally, Hamlin is the first NASCAR driver with an endorsement from the Jordan Brand.

For years, Hamlin and retired Cleveland Cavalier l egend Brad Daugherty, who owns race teams in the NASCAR Truck Series and the JGT Daugherty Racing, persuaded Jordan to invest in NASCAR.

Jordan said yes when they got hold of Darrell “Bubba” Wallace, Jr., the first and only African American driver in NASCAR’s Cup Series in fifty years who had several top- ten race finishes and in the process netting him millions in personal sponsorships.

“I think Bubba has the potential to be a champion. If I didn’t think so, I wouldn’t get into this”, Jordan said. “Luck has a lot to do with winning in a lot of sports. But if you feel you have the same knowledge and the same equipment, you