Michael Jordan to set up Nascar team with Bubba Wallace as his lead driver

Michael Jordan ventures in Nascar
AP
Matt Majendie @mattmajendie22 September 2020

Former NBA star Michael Jordan is to set up his own Nascar team, with Bubba Wallace as the lead driver.

As the only full-time black competitor on the grid, Wallace has been vocal in fighting racism.

Jordan, who launched the team with three-time Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin, said: “Historically, Nascar has struggled with diversity.”

“The timing seemed perfect as Nascar is evolving and embracing social change more and more.”

“I see this as a chance to educate a new audience and open more opportunities for Black people in racing,” Jordan said.

Hamlin added: “Michael and Bubba can be a powerful voice together, not only in our sport, but also well beyond it.”

Wallace is a vocal supporter of Black Lives Matter, and was one of the loudest voices in the push for the banning of Confederate flags, formerly a common sight at NASCAR events.

Photo: Getty Images
Getty Images

He wants to use his heightened platform to ‘stand up for a race that feels defeated’ after he found a noose in his racetrack garage in June.

An FBI investigation followed, with it determined that the garage door pull rope, which had been fashioned like a noose, had been in that stall at the Talledaga Superspeedway track since last October.

Wallace, the sport’s only African-American driver, has insisted that it was "straight-up noose" and whether directed at him or not, still believes it was an act of racism.

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