Before Finding Success with $150 Million NASCAR Team, Michael Jordan Embarrassingly Failed with Unknown Motorsports Team

Published 09/12/2022, 11:00 AM EDT

NBA legend Michael Jordan developed a love for motorcycles growing up. He began riding dirt bikes when he was growing up in Wilmington, North Carolina. Once he became a superstar in the league, he had to stop riding motorcycles for safety reasons. However, after he retired, Jordan started riding a sports bike through the streets of Chicago. As people started to understand, that it was actually him, other motorcyclists wanted to join him on rides. So he began riding secretly in the middle of the night.

This love for motorcycles made him take a leap at the idea of running his own motorcycle race team. Jordan started making moves to form an AMA Superbike team under the Jordan brand. Hence, “Michael Jordan Motorsports” was born. Yamaha supplied the bikes, and they competed in the 2004 AMA Pro Road Racing series. But things were not easy in the motorcycling world for MJ as an owner.

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The team’s driver Montez Stewart finished 35th in the Supersport class and 23rd in Superstock. However, the team turned a corner in the next year. This time, Suzuki delivered the bikes, and their driver finished a respectable 3rd and 8th place positions.

Michael Jordan as a team owner

The “Michael Jordan Motorsports” team started making strides in the world of pro racing. In 2008, their drivers finished 1st and 2nd in the MA Superstock Championship. It was MJ’s first title in motorsports.

Then in 2010, the team finished 3rd overall in the Superbike class. However, Jordan started facing troubles as he struggled to compete against the factory teams. And unfortunately, the team could not continue due to financial issues.

He ran a Superbike team from 2005 to 2013, getting some success but ultimately closing the team due to loss of sponsorship. That was right after Jordan was pushing for the chance to enter the World Superbike Championship with Suzuki.
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Then in 2021, Jordan again showed his love for motorsports again when he became the majority of owner of 23XI Racing which competes in the NASCAR Cup Series. This venture has been successful so far for the six-time NBA champion with three race victories and one pole position. As per reports, the team has a net worth of $150 million.

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Jordan is also the majority owner of the NBA franchise Charlotte Hornets. However, the team has not yet tasted much success in recent times, at least, not the kind of success that would impress its legendary owner.

Did you know about Jordan’s failed venture? Let us know in the comments.

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Written by:

Bagavathi Eswaran is an NBA writer at EssentiallySports. He has been playing the game of basketball for more than 20 years now and has also been following the NBA for more than 10 years. After not being able to go pro, this former college player decided to join the IT industry.

Before Finding Success with $150 Million NASCAR Team, Michael Jordan Embarrassingly Failed with Unknown Motorsports Team

Michael Jordan as a team owner

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