Denny Hamlin says Michael Jordan "excited" about first Daytona 500 as team owner
Defending Daytona 500 champion Denny Hamlin says NBA legend and new business partner Michael Jordan can’t wait for his first race as a NASCAR team owner.
Hamlin will be trying to win a record third straight Daytona 500 when the NASCAR Cup Series season begins Feb. 14 at Daytona International Speedway. It will also be his first race as a team owner after he and Jordan formed 23XI Racing during the offseason.
Hamlin, who has 44 career victories, just signed a contract extension with Joe Gibbs Racing and is embarking on his 16th season with the team he has driven for his entire career. But he will also have an eye on the new No. 23 Toyota, which will make its NASCAR debut with driver Bubba Wallace.
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Hamlin says Michael Jordan, who also owns the NBA’s Charlotte Hornets, is anxious to start his racing career.
“He’s just excited,” Hamlin said at NASCAR Media Day Friday. “The involvement on the race team, he’s got a great team of people that I work with and he really gives us a lot of autonomy to make sure we are doing things the way we see fit. It’s working well.”
How did Michael Jordan get involved in NASCAR?
Jordan, a North Carolina native, starred at the University of North Carolina before becoming one of the NBA’s greatest players and winning six NBA championships for the Chicago Bulls. He met Hamlin, a big NBA fan, through his ownership of the Charlotte Hornets. Now the two have partnered to chase their other passion — NASCAR racing.
“He’s just a big fan of the sport and always has been,” Hamlin said. “Now he’s embedded in it very heavily. He’s excited obviously about Daytona next week. He’s as excited as he’s ever been, that’s for sure.”
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Hamlin and Michael Jordan will field the No. 23 Toyota for Bubba Wallace, NASCAR’s only African-American driver. Wallace became heavily immersed in the racial justice movement that swept the United States last year and used his profile as a NASCAR Cup Series driver to speak out out on diversity and racial issues.
Hamlin said that will continue this year, with Michael Jordan’s stature in the sports world giving Wallace an even greater platform to speak out on issues important to him.
While Wallace will be behind the wheel for the duration of the points-paying season, Ty Dillon will drive the No. 23 car in the Busch Clash on Tuesday, Feb. 9 as Wallace is not eligible for the non-points event.
“This is a platform that is a lot different,” Hamlin said. “Michael Jordan has a huge following and that following is now having an interest in NASCAR, and a lot of people that have never attended NASCAR races before will probably go [now] knowing that their favorite guy might be there.”
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Wallace, who believed he was the target of an alleged racial incident at Talladega Superspeedway last year, had the backing of NASCAR and fellow drivers when he spoke out on racial issues. Hamlin said he and Wallace are having conversations with Jordan and team sponsors about ways to address diversity and racial equality this year.
“Those are discussions that are ongoing with our team to figure out what is our plan for action as far as that is concerned,” Hamlin said. “We are working with our sponsors as well; it is important to them. We’re running a race team, but this is also about a bigger message, and it starts from the executive side. We are extremely diverse and I really believe, hopefully, we can continue to push change and make this sport even more inclusive. … We really feel like there are a lot of opportunities to use this platform to definitely voice change.”