Michael Jordan stepped into NASCAR to be a team owner and he has largely succeeded in that aspect. His team XXIII Racing, recently even won an event. But the most prestigious race in the NASCAR calendar had evaded him, the Daytona 500.
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And to boot, the recent winner, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. drives for a team owned by a man who also competed with Jordan. The man in question is Brad Daugherty. He is co-owner of the JTG Daugherty Racing Team, which Ricky drove for.
In winning the Daytona 500, he got to one-up Michael Jordan in two separate ways. And it must have felt good.
Brad Daugherty finally Beats Michael Jordan in a race
For the uninitiated, Brad Daugherty was a center for the Cleveland Cavaliers. During his NBA career, he made the All-Star team 5 times and was a playoff regular with the Cavs well before LeBron James was a thing.
In fact, Daugherty led the Cavs to the playoff 5 times, however, he met the greatest basketball player in the form of Michael Jordan. MJ’s Chicago Bulls beat Daugherty’s Cavs in 4/5 playoff appearances.
But just 5 days ago, Daugherty beat Jordan. Not on the court, but on the racetrack. His team won the Daytona 500 over Jordan’s and in the process, he became the first black principal owner to do so.
Jordan broke barriers and continues to do so.
One thing about MJ is that he broke a lot of barriers and he continues to push the bar. And Brad winning the Daytona opened up the door for more black entrepreneurs and businessmen to start their ventures in sports.
MJ might not have won the race first but he started it before everyone else and he will be delighted to see everyone else join in on the fun.
To a competitor like Jordan, however, he would have been wishing for victory. We think it will come sooner rather than later.
