What came first for Michael Jordan, the chicken or the egg?

Actually, that question is facetious, but the concept is the same: what came first for the NBA’s GOAT: his love of basketball or NASCAR?

While he was growing up in Wilmington, North Carolina, Jordan was torn between those two loves – both of which his late father, James, helped instill in him. They’d go to races at places like Rockingham, Darlington and Charlotte, learning the nuances of stock car racing.

A young MJ dreamed about one day becoming a star in both NASCAR and the NBA. But as he matured physically and got much more attention for his talent with a basketball, plus the fact that there were virtually no Blacks in NASCAR, Jordan chose to pursue the roundball game with all his ability.

But even as he was winning the half-dozen NBA championships, or the season he played minor league baseball, NASCAR was always never far from Jordan’s mind and heart. As he became the NBA’s biggest global star, he eventually came to the realization he’d never drive a race car, but never lost the desire to hopefully still be involved with the sport somehow, some way, and some day.

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That some day eventually came for Jordan

And once Jordan became a billionaire, bought an NBA team, it was just a matter of time before Jordan would scratch that long-held NASCAR itch. That’s one of the main reasons why, after 13 years as majority owner of the Charlotte Hornets, Jordan chose to sell the team in 2023 and plow much of the $3 billion he got from the sale to build out his long-held dream of owning a NASCAR team, namely 23XI Racing (which he formed in 2021).

With long-time NASCAR Cup driver Denny Hamlin as Jordan’s business partner, 23XI may have started out slow in both development and success, but what happened Sunday at Daytona International Speedway was just the next step forward for Jordan. Now that he can add the Harley J. Earl trophy to his mantle for driver Tyler Reddick’s win in the Daytona 500, coupled with Bubba Wallace’s shocking win last summer in the Brickyard 400, Jordan and 23XI are starting to make up for lost time quickly.

Jordan, who turned 62 yesterday, didn’t mince words when asked what Sunday’s win in the Great American Race meant to him: “I feel like I won a championship! This is the greatest birthday present I can have!”

The wins in the Brickyard and the 500 give 23XI wins in half of NASCAR’s four biggest races – otherwise known as the “crown jewels”. That leaves three other goals left to accomplish: the two other crown jewels, the Coca-Cola 600 and Southern 500, and the ultimate goal, the Cup championship.

And after what Reddick did Sunday, the confidence from that triumph, as well as how 23XI and Front Row Motorsports won the contentious anti-trust lawsuit vs. NASCAR, 2026 has the potential to be Jordan’s breakout season as a NASCAR team owner, much like the way he and the Chicago Bulls won the first of six NBA titles in 1991.

Jordan has several fellow NASCAR owners he’s patterned himself after

Even though he’s much older and sports a few more pounds than he did during his playing days, Jordan is still as competitive as he’s ever been. And with the lawsuit win coupled with the Daytona triumph, it will not be a surprise to see Jordan’s NASCAR versions of the Jordanaires become what he has long aspired to be after he decided he wanted to become involved in the sport: leading one of the best Cup organizations in the business, just like he did with the Bulls.

Simply put, Jordan wants to be like Rick Hendrick, Joe Gibbs, and Roger Penske. And if there’s anyone who can do it, it’s MJ.

During my 15 years as a sportswriter for USA Today, I covered Jordan throughout most of his time with the Bulls. In countless interviews before and after games, at practice and occasional public appearances, we’d spend a lot of time talking about basketball, naturally, but I found him fascinating chatting about many of his other interests such as golf, cigars, baseball, high performance and the Uber-luxury cars that he owned and loved to drive – and another thing to do with cars that initially was a big surprise to me: his love of NASCAR.

As the old saying goes, “Who’d ‘a thunk it?”

But Jordan was a big fan both during and after his NBA playing days. He followed a number of drivers, including Richard Petty (obviously, since he was the King of the sport and also from North Carolina), Davey Allison, Darrell Waltrip, Dale Earnhardt and The Intimidator’s arch-nemesis, Jeff Gordon.

And one fact many folks don’t know all that well about Jordan is that when it came to NASCAR, he had a partner in crime, so to speak, during the three seasons he played for the University of North Carolina. Teammate Brad Daugherty, who grew up outside in Black Mountain, N.C. (still lives there), just outside of Asheville, was equally a NASCAR fanatic.

Jordan once shared a story with me about Brad D. and himself and their mutual love for NASCAR, how they would get into friendly arguments over who were the best drivers in NASCAR. Not surprisingly, after Daugherty’s own illustrious NBA playing days were over, he also gravitated to and was welcomed with open arms in NASCAR as both a part-time team owner and broadcaster.

In fact, one of Jordan’s first phone calls seeking advice on whether he should form a NASCAR team or not was to Daugherty. And they still talk about the sport today.

Back to his playing days, as each NBA season went by, Jordan and I would talk most about NASCAR in the fall as each championship season was coming to a close and who we both thought would ultimately win the title that year. I distinctly recall several times on either a Sunday afternoon or Saturday night, either before or after a Bulls game, that he’d ask me, “Hey, who won the NASCAR race?”

He also would pop up occasionally in-person at Cup races as his schedule permitted. Honestly, it was kind of funny seeing the 6-foot-6 Jordan sticking out above most of the crowd, roaming through the Cup garage and along pit road, shaking hands, giving hand slaps or high-fives to the likes of Hamlin (who became and still is one of Jordan’s BFFs), Gordon, Tony Stewart, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and so many others.

What was so funny was Jordan – as fiery and cool as he could be on an NBA floor – was practically like a little kid set loose in a candy store when he attended a race. He came to a Cup race at Chicagoland Speedway one year, driving a brand new and fully loaded Chevrolet Corvette (“Bulls Red” in color and with license plate No. 23, naturally).

When a smilingly NASCAR Chairman and CEO Jim France congratulated Jordan in victory lane after Sunday’s race, I couldn’t help but think if the pleasantries were a bit through gritted teeth, as Jordan and Front Row Motorsports (FRM) came out victorious over NASCAR in the lawsuit – and then in the first points-paying race of the season, NASCAR’s Super Bowl, 23XI and MJ once again got the better of NASCAR (both the sanctioning body and the other drivers in the race).

It was just a little less than three months ago, as the lawsuit was preparing to get underway, that Jordan claimed if he and FRM lost the suit, he was giving serious thought to shutting down his team, selling it, and leaving the sport forever.

But now, after Sunday’s win, you won’t be able to drag Jordan away from NASCAR ever again. In fact, I’m going to go out on a limb and make a very bold prediction: it isn’t a matter of if Jordan and 23XI will ever win a Cup championship, I’m convinced it’s just a matter of time before Reddick, Wallace or Riley Herbst give Jordan what he’s dreamed about since he was a kid: being a NASCAR champion.

And if he sticks around long enough, maybe match his number of NBA championships with NASCAR titles.