Bubba Wallace Looks Forward to ‘Finally Meeting’ Michael Jordan at the NASCAR Daytona 500

Published 02/02/2021, 9:10 AM EST

Bubba Wallace recently reflected upon the ‘super cool moment’ when he spoke to NBA legend and his NASCAR team’s co-owner, Michael Jordan, for the very first time. That conversation was over the phone soon after the announcement of the team 23XI Racing, and Wallace was over the moon.

The new team with Wallace as its driver was announced back in September 2020. However, Wallace is yet to meet Jordan in person and all conversations between the two have been over the phone.

It seems now that Wallace’s dream of meeting Jordan is set to come true in just a few days. The new driver of the no. 23 car revealed that Jordan could be present at the NASCAR season-opening Daytona 500 race on February 14th.

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Bubba Wallace hints at Michael Jordan’s presence at Daytona

Wallace said that the team is arranging for Jordan to attend the race. There, he looks forward to finally meeting the sporting icon.

“We’re trying to arrange for him to be at the (Daytona) 500. So it will be cool to get to finally shake his hand and say ‘hello’,” Wallace said during a recent interview.

About their conversations so far, Wallace said, “I haven’t met him yet. We’ve shared conversations over the phone. That’s been really cool too.”

Jordan, too, would be excited to make his presence felt at the iconic Daytona 500, arguably the biggest NASCAR season of the year. The 500 will be Wallace’s first-ever race behind the wheel of the no. 23 car, and Jordan’s team 23XI Racing‘s first-ever NASCAR race.

Will Wallace impress the NBA legend in his first outing?

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It is a race that attracts a lot of attention, and Jordan is quite knowledgeable in NASCAR as well. He would also be excited to see his 23XI Racing partner Denny Hamlin aim to make Daytona 500 history. No driver has won three consecutive Daytona 500s and Hamlin has a chance to do that.

However, Jordan’s main interest and support will be towards the 27-year-old Wallace. Wallace recently also gave an interesting insight into Jordan’s knowledge and grasp of NASCAR. It showed that the basketball great closely follows NASCAR.

When they first spoke, Jordan questioned why Wallace made an aggressive move on Hamlin in a particular NASCAR race. Jordan is a passionate sportsperson and sports team owner as well.

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If Jordan does grace the Daytona 500 with his presence, it will be very interesting to see him cheer on the youngster Bubba Wallace.

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Written by:

Aayush Majumdar is a NASCAR content strategist, a Tennis Writer, and a sports analyst at EssentiallySports. He is well-tenured as a tennis and NASCAR writer, with over 900 articles across both sports. After pursuing a Post Graduate program in Sports Management, Aayush explored various roles in Sports Media, including a Sports Reporting role at a leading English daily.

Bubba Wallace Looks Forward to ‘Finally Meeting’ Michael Jordan at the NASCAR Daytona 500

Bubba Wallace hints at Michael Jordan’s presence at Daytona

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Will Wallace impress the NBA legend in his first outing?