DAYTONA BEACH, FLORIDA — Six-time NBA champion Michael Jordan is now also a Daytona 500 winner.
tyler reddick He won “The Great American Race” with a last-lap pass at Daytona International Speedway on Sunday that sent Jordan flying into a frenzied celebration. The NBA Hall of Famer hugged Redick in Victory Lane and then jointly with 23XI Racing driver Harley J. Earl hoisted the trophy.
Jordan, who turned 63 on Tuesday, will get a Daytona 500 ring for his birthday and revealed in Victory Lane that he wears a size 13 ring.
Jordan said, “It feels like I’ve won a championship, but I won’t even know until I get my ring.”
This moment captured the messaging team’s co-owner denny hamlinHe ran 31st in Sunday’s bid to become the third driver in history to win four Daytona 500s, delivering to the 23XI staff at a team meeting before NASCAR’s season opener.
“He loves his race team,” Hamlin said, reminding the team of the satisfaction he saw in Jordan when Reddick won at Talladega in 2024. “I was like, ‘You know, you guys understand your responsibilities, that you have the power to bring joy to Michael Jordan. You have that power and no one else can do that.’
“There’s nothing else that can give them that joy than seeing what their team can do and they take it to heart.”
Reddick, in the Toyota, led only one lap on Sunday: one to the checkered flag. He was the 25th different driver to lead a lap for a new Daytona 500 record.
“It’s unbelievable how it all happened,” Redick said. “True Daytona madness. I’ve already lost my voice from yelling. I never thought I’d be Daytona 500 champion.”
Reddick, 30, of Corning, Calif., won for the ninth time in the Cup Series and first since the end of the 2024 season. Winless last year, Redick focused primarily on his newborn son, who was found to have a tumor in his chest that affected his heart. Reddick started last year with a runner-up finish in the Daytona 500.
He ended a 38-race losing streak by finishing one position Sunday and winning, sparking a celebration that included many of NASCAR’s stars. It included Jordan, a global icon, and Hamlin, the Cup Series’ oldest full-time driver at 45.
Redick’s teammates are bubba wallaceJoe walked to victory lane in tears after leading the race for 40 laps before finishing 10th. Jordan wrapped his arms around Wallace from behind and spoke close into Wallace’s ear in a brief speech of encouragement.
“I don’t want my emotions to take away from the monumental day they just accomplished,” Wallace said. “Happy birthday, MJ. That’s a huge birthday gift. I thought this was our week, my best 500 ever, and came up short, sucks.
“I’m sure the lap leader, led a lot of laps. It was a good day for us, but damn. Try again next year.”
Hamlin, who drives for Joe Gibbs Racing, was involved in the final caution when he and his teammate christopher bell Stuck with nine laps remaining. This led to a final push to the finish over the final four laps.
Elliott took the lead at the start of the final lap Carson Hocevar Was removed from the track. Redick made a big layup with an assist from a teammate Riley HerbstMade contact with Elliott causing Elliott to crash, then proceeded to hand Jordan the win in NASCAR’s biggest event of the year.
“This is the thing you dream about as a kid,” Redick said. “Now, I definitely didn’t look into the future and knew I would drive for Michael Jordan. But to be able to have someone like Michael Jordan believe in me enough, someone like Denny Hamlin.
“I’m just trying my best to live up to the promises I made to them and vice versa.”
Jordan was the face of a December federal antitrust lawsuit that NASCAR settled on the ninth day of trial. The agreement changed the revenue-sharing model in the United States’ top motorsports series.
Jordan watched the victory from a suite overlooking the superspeedway built by the France family – NASCAR founders and private owners – whom he had recently defeated in federal court. NASCAR Chairman Jim France, who was personally a defendant in the lawsuit, went to Victory Lane to congratulate the winners.
Jordan said of the win, “I can’t even believe it. It was so gratifying.” “You never know how these races are going to end. You just try to survive. We hung in there all day. Great strategy by the team, and we gave ourselves a chance at the end. Look, I’m very happy.”
The win marked a Daytona sweep for the three team owners heavily involved in the trials. Bob Jenkins, who joined 23XI in suing NASCAR, started the weekend with a win chandler smith Won the Truck Series opener Friday night for Front Row Motorsports.
Richard ChildressTestified on behalf of 23XI and Front Row and was the victim of abusive text messages from the late NASCAR president Steve Phelps, the owner of the winning team on Saturday was Austin Hill won.
Then it was time for Jordan and Hamlin, the two front-runners, as they got their first Daytona 500 victory together.
“We just want to win,” shrugged Hamlin, who called the trio of weekend winners a “coincidence.”
Former race winners Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Joey Logano Toyota finished second and third as Chevrolet and Ford each placed a driver on the podium. Elliott finished fourth and sat on the outside wall of the track in disappointment and disbelief after getting out of his car.
“We finally got gifted the lead … and then at that point, you’re just on defense,” Elliott said. “Man, to be honest, it’s a really tough spot to be in. Obviously, looking back, you can run it over in your mind 1,000 times, would you have done anything differently?”
