Michael Jordan more than just another NASCAR celebrity owner

Michael Jordan doesn’t make his entrance to the pits of a NASCAR Cup Series race much before the start of the race.

When he enters, there isn’t a lot of fanfare — the only sign is if you see the NASCAR security personnel getting into position from where he and his small entourage might enter pit road (typically someone helping with logistics and a couple of people who travel with him).

He has some brief interactions with fans. He will tell them if they are wearing Air Jordans, that he likes their shoes. The fans think it is the greatest compliment of all time coming from the greatest of all time.

Jordan knows the members of 23XI Racing — the 23 for Michael Jordan, of course, and the XI a version of 11 for Denny Hamlin, who drivers for Joe Gibbs Racing but co-owns the race team with drivers Tyler Reddick and Bubba Wallace.

He asks lots of questions.

“I was talking to him before the race, and he watches every truck race, every Xfinity race, every Cup race just trying to learn and understand what we’re going through and figure out how he can help from the owner’s side,” Reddick crew chief Billy Scott said. “It’s impressive.”

Jordan is not just another celebrity owner, and while some wouldn’t be surprised because of just how competitive Jordan is, those around the NASCAR world are typically skeptical of celebrity ownership.

Troy Aikman and Roger Staubach once were co-owners of a race team. Brett Favre, too. They are also known as fierce competitors but never took the interest in their NASCAR teams as Jordan does.

And there’s good reason. Jordan’s father used to work on engines when Jordan was a kid growing up in North Carolina. He and Hamlin became friends as Hamlin has courtside seats to the Charlotte Hornets, a team Jordan owned up until last year.

Jordan would ask questions about racing to Hamlin before they became partners.

“My passion drives me more than the financials,” Jordan said after the team announced its launch for the 2021 season. “So if I invest or not invest, I’m going to call Denny each and every Sunday to ask him what the hell is he doing? Is he going to win today? What happened on that turn?

“I’ve been a fan for so long. And I’m always going to be that. Making money or losing money, I’m going to be a fan of NASCAR. This is authenticity in the making for me that I’m involved in something that I truly, truly love and I wake up each and every weekend looking forward to each and every race.”

That’s why this works so well. Jordan owned a motorcycle racing team in the past. He enjoys speed.

He obviously doesn’t enjoy the fact that he can only sit and watch, and maybe that is why he seemed so, so happy after Tyler Reddick’s victory Sunday at Talladega.

“I have no control,” he said in victory lane. “If I was playing basketball, I’d have total control. But I have no control, so I live vicariously through the drivers and the crew chiefs and everybody.”

He also knows when he can help with a few words of wisdom. Wallace said he recently told them to look in the mirror when evaluating performance. When Jordan says that, those on the team are going to listen.

There’s nothing wrong with owning part of a sports franchise to lend a name and help with securing sponsorship. Those ventures can create value for a race team.

But Jordan’s presence and passion create so much more, as the victory and the publicity of his energy and happiness following the win certainly showed.

He needed three words to sum it all up:

“I’m all in,” he said.

Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass.

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