A Toyota Racing driver won NASCAR’s biggest event in a car he co-owns with an NBA Hall of Famer.
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Published February 16, 2026
Michael Jordan, a six-time National Basketball Association (NBA) champion, is also now a Daytona 500 champion.
Tyler Reddick won the “Great American Race” with a final-lap pass at Daytona International Speedway on Sunday, sending Jordan into a wild celebration. The NBA Hall of Famer gave Redick a bear hug in victory lane and then joined the 23XI Racing driver in hoisting the Harley J. Earle Trophy.
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Jordan, who turns 63 on Tuesday, plans to give him a Daytona 500 ring for his birthday and revealed in Victory Lane that he wears a size 13.
“I feel like I won the championship, but you don’t know until you get the ring,” Jordan said.
The moment captured a message that team co-owner Denny Hamlin, who finished 31st in Sunday’s race to become the third driver in history to win the Daytona 500 four times, shared with 23XI employees about Jordan during a team meeting before NASCAR’s opening day.
“He loves his race team,” Hamlin said, adding that Reddick reminded the team of the fulfillment they saw in Jordan when he won at Talladega in 2024. “I thought, ‘Look, you guys understand the responsibility you have, and you have the ability to bring joy to Michael Jordan. You have that ability, and no one else can do that,'” he said.
“Nothing brings him more joy than seeing what his team can do. They took that to heart.”
Reddick succeeds in the end
Redick, driving a Toyota, led only one lap on Sunday to the checkered flag. He was the 25th driver to lead a record-setting Daytona 500 lap.
“It’s just unbelievable how it all unfolded, just the true craziness of Daytona,” Reddick said. “I was already screaming so much that I couldn’t speak. I never thought I’d become the Daytona 500 champion.”
Reddick, a 30-year-old from Corning, Calif., won his ninth Cup Series championship and his first since late in the 2024 season. Reddick, who didn’t win last year, was mostly focused on her young son, who was diagnosed with a tumor in his chest that affected his heart. Redick opened last year’s Daytona 500 with a runner-up finish.
He ended a 38-race losing streak by finishing one spot higher Sunday and winning to start a celebration that included several of NASCAR’s stars. That included Jordan and Hamlin, 45, who is the Cup Series’ oldest full-time driver.
Jordan watched the victory from a suite overlooking the famous Florida superspeedway.
“I can’t believe it. I was really happy,” Jordan said of the win. “You never know how the race will end. You just try to survive. We worked hard all day. Thanks to some great strategy from the team, we gave ourselves a chance at the end. Look, I’m over the moon.”
