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NBA legend and 23XI Racing co-owner Michael Jordan savored his maiden triumph on the tenth weekend of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series calendar, courtesy of Tyler Reddick's solid 188-lap run at the Talladega Superspeedway. Furthermore, the former Los Angeles Lakers star Magic Johnson was impressed by the achievement and praised his friend's remarkable feat.
With the GEICO 500 win, Jordan is now a 6x Cup Series race winner, where two victories were collected by Bubba Wallace, one by Kurt Busch at the 2022 Advent Health 400, and three wins by Reddick.
Fans and athletes poured in their reactions to the 6x NBA champion for his team's success. One among them is the former NBA star Earwin Magic Johnson, who contributed the entirety of his career to the Los Angeles Lakers and is often recognized as the greatest point guard. Johnson was content with his good friend Jordan's victory on the 2.66-mile superspeedway, following which he penned down a beautiful congratulatory note (via Earwin Magic Johnson on X):
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"Congratulations to my good friend and 23XI Racing team co-owner, Michael Jordan, on his NASCAR Cup series win yesterday at Talladega! I'm happy he was there finally to see his team win in person, too 🙌🏾."
"MJ is one of the four Black NASCAR team owners out there. Already a 6x NBA champion, he’s now a 6x NASCAR Cup Series winner! I love seeing him continuing his winning legacy on the NASCAR track🏆."
"This is like an NBA Playoff game"- Michael Jordan reflects on 23XI Racing's adrenaline-packed Talladega run
Michael Jordan ventured into the realm of the NBA in 1984, and after competing for 15 seasons and raking in six championships for the Chicago Bulls, the legendary player called off his future professional stints. After his retirement, Jordan delved into several things to keep his ecstatic persona alive and the North Carolina-based outfit is one big testament to it.
The 23XI Racing anchored their first Cup Series start in 2021 at the Daytona 500, with Bubba Wallace fielding the Toyota for his team. Since then, they have collected six wins. However, the tally of triumphs would've been restrained to five, had Michael McDowell not lost control on the final sprint to the checkered flag, giving way to Reddick's #45 Toyota to etch the glorious spot to his name.
The NASCAR win seemingly felt like an "NBA Playoff game" to Michael Jordan as is evident from his post-race thoughts:
"It's the NBA Playoffs right now. So this is like an NBA Playoff game to me. I am so ecstatic for the fans who support the sport itself and we've been working hard trying to get ourselves up to where we can compete against all the top guys in this sport." (0.50)
