Michael Jordan becomes Nascar team owner with Bubba Wallace as driver
Denny Hamlin has joined Charlotte Hornets owner Michael Jordan to form a Nascar team with Bubba Wallace as the driver, a high-profile pairing of a Black majority team owner and the only Black driver at Nascar’s top level.
The partnership was announced on Monday night in coordinated social media posts by Jordan and Hamlin, with Wallace adding his own comment. The posts showed a picture of Jordan alongside a firesuit-clad Hamlin in a motorhome at a race track.
“Historically, Nascar has struggled with diversity and there have been few Black owners,” Jordan said in his statement. “The timing seemed perfect as Nascar is evolving and embracing social change more and more.”
Jordan becomes the first Black principal owner of a full-time Cup team since Hall of Famer Wendell Scott drove his own race car in 495 races from 1961 to 1973. Scott’s 1964 victory at the Jacksonville 200 is the only win by a Black driver in Cup history.
The NBA great, who earlier this year pledged $100m over 10 years for initiatives combating systemic racism, said the move into Nascar is another step toward racial equality.
“I see this as a chance to educate a new audience and open more opportunities for Black people in racing,” Jordan said.
Jordan joins former NBA player Brad Daugherty, a partner at JTG Daugherty Racing, as the only Black owners at NASCAR’s elite Cup level.
“Michael and Bubba can be a powerful voice together, not only in our sport, but also well beyond it,” Hamlin said.
Hamlin, a three-time Daytona 500 winner and a top contender for this year’s Cup title, will be part of a single-car Toyota entry aligned with Joe Gibbs Racing. Hamlin has raced his entire career for Gibbs, a Hall of Fame NFL coach.
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“Eleven years ago I met Michael Jordan at a then-Charlotte Bobcats game and we became fast friends,” Hamlin wrote. “Not long after, I joined Jordan Brand as their first Nascar athlete. Our friendship has grown over the years and now we are ready to take it to the next level. Deciding on the driver was easy it had to be Bubba Wallace.”
Wallace is the only Black driver in the Cup Series and this season used his platform to push for racial equality. The 27-year-old successfully urged Nascar to ban the display of the Confederate flag at its events.
SOURCE ⇒ THEGUARDIAN
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