CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Michael Jordan will soon take the witness stand in an uptown Charlotte federal courthouse, slated to testify as the race team he owns sues NASCAR over alleged illegal antitrust practices.
Jordan co-owns one of NASCAR’s top teams, 23XI Racing, with three-time Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin. Their team, along with co-plaintiff Front Row Motorsports, claims NASCAR has abused its monopoly power over premier stock car racing and harmed their organizations in the process.
It is a highly contentious trial that has threatened to tear NASCAR apart in more ways than one, with the teams’ attorney, Jeffrey Kessler, seeking the kind of sea change he brought to college athletics when he successfully fought against the NCAA and won a legal victory resulting in the creation of NIL deals.
But at the heart of it all is Jordan, who is perhaps the only team owner with the combination of willingness and deep pockets to fight NASCAR all the way to federal court without blinking.
After all, Jordan is not a man who likes to lose.
Here’s a look at how the NBA legend found his way into NASCAR — and now, into the courtroom.
How did Jordan get into NASCAR?
Jordan shares a laugh with NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. in 2007 in Concord, N.C. The NBA legend grew up in the heart of NASCAR territory, attending races with his dad. (Grant Halverson / Getty Images)
Though it might not be widely known outside NASCAR, Jordan is a lifelong fan who attended races with his parents and siblings as a kid growing up in North Carolina.
“I grew up in NASCAR,” Jordan told Fox Sports in 2021. “My father used to pack the whole family in. We’d go to Darlington, we’d go to Rockingham, we’d go to Charlotte, we came down to Daytona, Talladega. And we would just go, and we’d spend the whole day. And from that point on, I’ve been hooked on NASCAR.”
Even before becoming a team owner, he would set his clock every Sunday to watch NASCAR Cup Series races and struck up a friendship with co-owner Hamlin while owning the Charlotte Hornets NBA team.
In 2020, while golfing with friends, Hamlin spotted a false news article claiming he was pairing with Jordan to form a new NASCAR team. Hamlin jokingly sent it to Jordan, who responded that, while it was fake, “If you want to make it real, let me know.”
Hamlin put together a pitch deck, and the two formed 23XI Racing with Bubba Wallace, and have now expanded to three NASCAR Cup Series cars (their other drivers are Tyler Reddick and Riley Herbst).
What is 23XI?
Jordan is the majority owner of 23XI (pronounced like the numbers 23 and 11), a NASCAR Cup Series team whose ownership group also consists of Hamlin and Curtis Polk, Jordan’s longtime business partner. The team selected its name because 23 is Jordan’s iconic number he wore during his legendary NBA career, and the 11 is Hamlin’s car number. (Hamlin drives for a different NASCAR team, Joe Gibbs Racing, which is a close technical partner of 23XI’s.)
The team’s first two cars sport Jordan’s NBA uniform numbers — No. 23 and No. 45 — and the third car is No. 35. Founded in 2021, 23XI has won nine NASCAR Cup Series races — including this season’s Brickyard 400 in Indianapolis with Wallace. It also advanced to NASCAR’s championship race in 2024 with Reddick.
Jordan watches from the pit wall during a race in Darlington, South Carolina, in August. Frequently attending races, Jordan is an active presence around his 23XI Racing team. (Logan Riely / Getty Images)
What is Jordan like as a team owner?
Many other famous athletes or celebrities have owned race teams over the years. In most instances, though, their actual involvement is minimal, at best. But owning a NASCAR team is no vanity project for Jordan.
Hamlin said during his testimony this week that when a prospective sponsor is weighing whether to sign on with 23XI, Hamlin will have Jordan call the company to close the deal. Jordan also paid the majority share of the costs associated with starting the team, as well as a significant sum to build “Airspeed,” 23XI’s extravagant, $35 million headquarters.
And Jordan’s involvement goes beyond just leveraging his fame. He is also an active participant in weekly competition meetings, where his leadership has been lauded. He frequently attends races, where he’ll often sit either on the pit box alongside the crew chief and engineers or on the pit wall so he can be among the pit crew.
“When he’s there, everybody has another pep in their step, more confidence. Like, ‘Yeah, this is our guy and he’s on our side,’” said Billy Scott, Reddick’s crew chief. “Because he really is integrated into it, he understands it. He studies the sport. I think he knows what’s going on with strategy and tires and aero packages. He understands that stuff as well as a lot of us do at times.”
Why is Jordan suing NASCAR?
Jordan and business partner Polk brought a big-league NBA mentality to NASCAR and believe NASCAR is illegally using its position as a monopoly — which the judge in the case has ruled it is — to suppress team values and earnings.
Unlike other major sports, NASCAR is privately owned and operated by the France family, which founded NASCAR in 1948 and has held onto it ever since. The race teams own “charters,” which guarantee certain financial and other benefits. They are similar to franchises in other sports, except they have an expiration date.
Jordan gave up his team’s three charters, worth in excess of $120 million, and chose to sue instead after NASCAR tried to pressure teams into signing a charter agreement extension that Jordan deemed unfavorable.
“I love the sport of racing and the passion of our fans,” Jordan said in a statement after filing the lawsuit, “but the way NASCAR is run today is unfair to teams, drivers, sponsors and fans. Today’s action shows I’m willing to fight for a competitive market where everyone wins.”
Now Jordan is on a mission with a lawsuit that seemingly has two very different endings: Either force change in NASCAR by convincing a six-member jury of NASCAR’s antitrust violations, or lose the case and go out of business, leaving stock car racing behind.
His testimony, expected to begin as early as Friday afternoon, will be a big part of the outcome.