Michael Jordan started receiving text messages from friends who had never before shown interest in NASCAR after Darrell Wallace Jr. made an impression this week in the run-up to Sunday’s Daytona 500. Wallace, who is known as Bubba, is making his debut with 23XI Racing, the team owned by Jordan and the driver Denny Hamlin.
“So, people are starting to be inquisitive about it, which, to me, is a start,” Jordan told The New York Times in a video conference call with Hamlin and Wallace. “And come Sunday, hopefully both do well. I told Denny what my ideal scenario would be.