This week NASCAR Cup Series driver Denny Hamlin and former NBA champion/Charlotte Hornets owner Michael Jordan announced they will be forming a new NASCAR Cup Series team for the 2021 season and named Bubba Wallace as the driver.
“The timing seemed perfect, as NASCAR is evolving and embracing social change more and more,” said Michael Jordan.
“Eleven years ago, I met Michael Jordan at a then-Charlotte Bobcats game, and we became fast friends,” Hamlin wrote on Twitter. “Not long after, I joined the 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.”
Jordan becomes the first Black principal owner of a full-time Cup team since the NASCAR 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 NASCAR Cup Series history.
