In Photos: Michael Jordan's NASCAR Cup Series cars with Air Jordan-inspired designs
Michael Jordan and his 23XI Racing team entered the NASCAR Cup Series Championship with their driver Tyler Reddick eyeing the title at Phoenix Raceway. Jordan's 23XI Racing team made it to the season finale and is participating in the NASCAR playoffs.
Ahead of the championship race, ESPN's Nick DePaula posted a series of pictures of all the Jordan Brand-inspired #45 cars from 23XI Racing on his social media. In a series of posts that he made, one of the designs included Jordan Brand's iconic elephant print in a gray colorway.
One of the cars was designed on the theme of Air Jordan 1 classic Carolina Blue. DePaula also posted a picture of one of the cars that was inspired by J Balvin x Air Jordan 3 'Medellin Sunset" colorways that was released in 2023.
Interestingly, one of the cars was also inspired by Luka Doncic’s Jordan Luka signature shoe series in green and white colorways. Some of the other cars that have taken race tracks in the past also include themes inspired by "Grape" Air Jordan 5 and Air Jordan 8.
Michael Jordan wore #23 for most of his career. However, when he returned to the NBA after his first retirement in 1995, he wore the #45 jersey number for a brief period before he switched back to #23.
Denny Hamlin recalls how Michael Jordan instilled championship mentality in his NASCAR team
When it comes to winning in sports, Michael Jordan would have the biggest voice in any room. The NBA legend won six NBA titles and that too without losing a Finals series. Once Jordan won a title, he never forgot to lose and perhaps it was his voice that his NASCAR team needed to hear.
Denny Hamlin is the co-owner of 23XI Racing with Michael Jordan. While Hamlin is a three-time Daytona 500 winner and a racer himself, MJ's involvement in NASCAR is purely out of love for the sport. However, according to Hamlin, Jordan's inspiring remarks have proved pivotal for his team.
According to the Associated Press, Hamlin said that the Chicago Bulls legend never spoke and only listened during the team meetings. Hamlin recalled the one time Michael Jordan spoke and inspired the team.
"I think there has been one specific competition meeting that he said he wanted to participate in. He listened to it and listened to it, and at the end, he gave his opinion on what he heard, and he didn’t like what he heard and he gave some pointed remarks on what championship teams sound like and what winning teams sound like and how we need to change the way we are communicating and the way we are shifting blame all over the place," Hamlin said.
"That was kind of a pivotal moment for our team and our drivers to hear and taking responsibility for each person’s shortcomings and how you are going to get better, and that was a big moment in shifting our team’s mentality."
Last month, Michael Jordan's 23XI Racing driver Tyler Reddick won the Homestead–Miami, the biggest win by 23XI. Reddick is also one of the favorites to win the NASCAR Cup Series.