In 1979, the incidents on the final lap of the Daytona 500 catapulted NASCAR into the national sports spotlight, and its popularity exploded due to Cale Yarborough fighting with brothers Bobby and Donnie Allison on the third-turn apron while Richard Petty charged to victory to break a 45-race winless streak.
Now, nearly five decades later, it will be interesting to see if the same thing can be accomplished with this year’s Daytona 500 since the owner of the winning car is one of the most famous athletes of all time.
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Ever since Michael Jordan entered NASCAR Cup racing in 2021 as the co-owner of 23XI Racing he has garnered attention for the sport, both on and off the track. He attends races, watches his teams and the races intently from one of the organization’s pit boxes, and never misses victory lane when one of his drivers wins.
Jordan’s federal antitrust suit against NASCAR brought attention to the sport from media that probably hadn’t paid attention to stock car racing in decades. A settlement reached on the trial’s ninth day provided a good ending for both sides. Jordan cited “level heads” as the impetus for the settlement. That cold December day on the federal courthouse steps in Charlotte, North Carolina, Jordan and NASCAR Chairman and CEO Jim France solemnly stood side-by-side.
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A little more than two months later, both men were smiling in victory lane as France congratulated Jordan on winning the Daytona 500 with driver Tyler Reddick. Reddick’s victory snapped the driver’s 38-race winless streak and triggered a whirlwind media tour for the Daytona 500 champion. He appeared on Good Morning America, CNN World Sport, FOX & Friends, ESPN’s Get Up, Live with Kelly and Mark, Barstool, The Weather Channel, ESPN’s Unsportsmanlike, and El Universal. He toured and attended a social at the College Football Hall of Fame and participated in a fan event at the Atlanta Braves complex.
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Reddick’s most enjoyable moments were interacting with the analysts or the anchors who didn’t know a great deal about racing, who were “genuinely curious about racing… or the number of athletes that were drawn to understand and learn more because they saw Michael (Jordan) in victory lane… getting to tell them about Michael and to tell them about NASCAR.”
This year’s Daytona 500 on FOX averaged 7.489 million viewers, an 11% increase over the 2025 event which was 6.76 million. That made it the most-watched Daytona 500 since 2023. It peaked at 9.15 million viewers, outperforming the Winter Olympics in its timeslot, and made it the most-watched motorsports event since 2023.
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Whether or not NASCAR can build on this will be determined as the season progresses. Denny Hamlin, co-owner of 23XI Racing, maintains they want to return the sport to the days when the grandstands and suites were sold out for every event. During those decades there were numerous corporate sponsors, especially R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., that bought hundreds of tickets and distributed them to customers and contest winners. Corporate hospitality villages were in abundance, but the average fan felt displaced by corporate America.
It has yet to be seen if Jordan and his team’s 2026 Daytona 500 victory can cause the popularity surge in the sport that was triggered by the 1979 Daytona 500. However, it will attract people who have never watched it before because they will be curious as to why the internationally famous athlete who globalized the NBA and basketball chose to own a NASCAR team.
A North Carolina native, Deb Williams is an award-winning motorsports journalist who is in her fourth decade covering auto racing. In addition to covering the sport for United Press International, she has written motorsports articles for several newspapers, magazines and websites including espnW.com, USA Today, and The Charlotte Observer. Her awards include the American Motorsports Media Award of Excellence, two-time National Motorsports Press Association writer of the year, and two-time recipient of the Russ Catlin award. She also has won an award in the North Carolina Press Association’s sports feature category. During her career, Deb has been managing editor of GT Motorsports magazine and was with Winston Cup Scene and NASCAR Winston Cup Scene for 18 years, serving as the publication’s editor for 10 years. In 2024 she was inducted into the NMPA Hall of Fame.