{"id":1352480,"date":"2021-04-18T13:25:15","date_gmt":"2021-04-18T17:25:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/?p=1352480"},"modified":"2021-04-18T13:25:16","modified_gmt":"2021-04-18T17:25:16","slug":"michael-jordan-told-dale-earnhardt-jr-no-interest-owning-nascar-team-before-starting-23xi-racing-which-began-joke","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/michael-jordan-told-dale-earnhardt-jr-no-interest-owning-nascar-team-before-starting-23xi-racing-which-began-joke\/","title":{"rendered":"Michael Jordan Told Dale Earnhardt Jr. He Had No Interest in Owning a NASCAR Team Before Starting 23XI Racing, Which Began as a Joke"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

When it was announced last fall that Michael Jordan<\/a> had become the co-owner of a NASCAR Cup Series<\/a> team with his good friend, Denny Hamlin<\/a>, it came as quite a shock to some. It's not that Jordan doesn't know the sport as he's been attending races since he was a child or know what it's like to run a motorsports team as he owned a motorcycle team for about a decade. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But perhaps the shock came from the fact that everything with 23XI Racing came together so quickly. And there's also the fact that not even a year before his big announcement, MJ told Dale Earnhardt Jr.<\/a> that he had no interest in owning a NASCAR team, a team that actually ended up starting as a joke. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Michael Jordan went to NASCAR races with his father and owned a motorcycle team from 2004 to 2013<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Michael
Michael Jordan | Brian Lawdermilk - Pool\/Getty Images for NASCAR<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Michael Jordan's love affair with NASCAR actually began when he was just a child as his father, the late James Jordan, was a racing fan and would take young MJ to races at Charlotte, Rockingham, Darlington, and Talladega. The elder Jordan would even work on engines with longtime NASCAR team owner Hoss Ellington, who, like the Jordans, lived in Wilmington, North Carolina. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Soon after his NBA career ended in 2003, MJ got into the racing game himself with Michael Jordan Motorsports, a motorcycle team that competed on the AMA circuit from 2004 to 2013, winning class titles in Superstock, SuperSport East, and winning a race in the top-tier Superbike class. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Michael Jordan once told Dale Earnhardt Jr. he had no interest in owning a NASCAR team<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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