“Popped in His Head” – Denny Hamlin Once Got Notoriously Petty Michael Jordan to Admit He Wasn’t Better Than Someone at Something

Who would’ve imagined the GOAT of the NBA, Michael Jordan, would be challenged for something? And who would’ve imagined it would come from a legend of NASCAR? No one. But it did happen.

Michael Jeffrey Jordan has a CV like none other. A 6-time NBA champion, 6-time NBA Finals Most Valuable Player, and a 5-time NBA Most Valuable Player. And all this barely scratches the surface given his impeccable record in the NBA.

Since retirement, Jordan has delved into investments in various different sports teams, one of which is NASCAR’s 23XI Racing. His introduction to Denny Hamlin was a product of this investment.

Denny Hamlin has 3 Daytona 500 wins to his name among other accolades. He has majorly raced for Joe Gibbs Racing in his career.

His connection with Jordan came via co-ownership. In 2020, Denny and Michael decided to start their own NASCAR team called 23XI Racing with the famous “Jumpman” logo as their sponsor.

Over time the two have grown close. Hamlin narrates an incident between the two.

He said “The first thing I’m going to do is text Michael Jordan. He texted me on Wednesday. He said he was in Monte Carlo. I popped in his head like I always do, which I thought was a little odd. He says, ‘I know you’re about to head into the playoffs. I just want you to know I’ve never admitted to anybody that anyone is better than me at anything my whole life. But if you win this race this weekend, I will admit that you’re a better driver than I am.'”

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So as soon as he won NASCAR’s Chase for the Sprint Cup, he said “I thought, ‘Wow, that would be awesome.’ I just thought of that just now. So the first thing I’m going to do is text him and say, Admit it, I’m better than you, and I want everyone to know.”

Michael Jordan finds success with Hamlin at 23XI Racing

Jordan and Hamlin started the team in 2020. The relatively young team has begun to find its feet on the NASCAR circuits after a couple of wins.

They began with a single-car team. Bubba Wallace was roped in to drive car #33. Since then they have signed on Kurt Busch, and most recently, Tyler Reddick. While Busch has already been driving car #45, Reddick has been brought on board for the future as his contract starts from the 2024 season.

The team’s mentality was seen recently. Hamlin racing at Christopher Bell Speedway said, “Yeah, I mean, I nearly wrecked trying to catch him [Wallace, his teammate] off [Turn] 4. I got bad loose and hit the fence but I was driving as hard as I could. Nothing will ever come free when you’re driving for me. If you think I’m going to let you win, you better go get another job.”

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The team is young and has managed only 3 victories yet. But it has inspirational people making the big decisions, people who made winning look easy. The team has a lot of potential to disrupt the big teams of NASCAR and make a name for itself.