Michael Jordan’s 23XI racing team has been on a roll this NASCAR season, winning four out of the first six races of the year, including the iconic Daytona 500. But even before the current campaign began, Jordan’s crew had already won, scoring a legal victory against NASCAR last December.
In a rare interview, Jordan spoke to CBS about why he took the organization to court and how he used his killer instinct to lead his team to victory – or settlement, to be exact.
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“When I got into the sport obviously, a lot — as I learned, there was a lot of things that I wasn’t really happy about. This sport was not set up for success long term for the individuals that’s involved in the sport,” Jordan told “CBS Mornings” co-anchor Gayle King. “Now, up top, (NASCAR executives) they were making a good living. And the people that were putting on the show was not getting the type of recognition.”
Jordan said he went all-in after the lawsuit was filed
It was in 2020 when Jordan announced that he was partnering with driver Denny Hamlin to form a NASCAR team, which they named 23XI, an ode to Jordan’s jersey number with the Chicago Bulls (23) and Hamlin’s iconic No.11 Toyota Camry XSE for Joe Gibbs Racing.
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The team named Bubba Wallace, the only Black American driver across NASCAR’s three national series, as the first to pilot the No. 23 car. But MJ had bigger ambitions than simply winning races, and he wasn’t about to be just another team owner.
“We need some changes, even if I get kicked out of the sport. Even if I lose the lawsuit, I’m a wake up some people to understand that what they are actually doing is wrong. And I’ve been a fan. It’s not like I just woke up and said, ‘You know what? I’m a go and attack NASCAR. No, I’ve been involved in NASCAR, supporting NASCAR for a long period of time,'” Jordan said.
And so on October 2, 2024, Jordan’s 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports filed the anti-trust lawsuit against NASCAR, and the trial began over a year later on December 1st, 2025.
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“When we filed the lawsuit, and people became aware that we were suing NASCAR, I was all-in. I was aggressively gonna win. I became a competitor all over again,” he added.
Jordan agreed to testify in court
And so, as he did during the biggest basketball games of his NBA career, Jordan stepped up when his team needed him the most as he took the stand and testified in a Charlotte courtroom to challenge NASCAR’s revenue-sharing model and charter system.
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Sure, his testimony wasn’t as massive as the game-winners and slam dunks that he made during his basketball career, but somehow, it looked like the young MJ trying to get the Chicago Bulls over the hump against the Bad Boys.
“Don’t get me wrong, I was nervous. Any courtroom makes me nervous because that’s not where I want to be, really, 100 percent,” MJ admitted.
Ten days into the trial, NASCAR agreed to a settlement with 23XI and Front Row Motorsports, a move many consider a massive victory for the sport. For MJ, it wasn’t a “win” per se because the parties settled. But it was definitely a victory, perhaps more valuable than any of his six NBA titles, because it changed the future of stock racing.
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This story was originally published by Basketball Network on Mar 28, 2026, where it first appeared in the Off The Court section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
