NASCAR: No, Michael Jordan never ruled out Cup ownership

By Asher Fair | Sep 25, 2020

Michael Jordan, NASCAR (Photo by FRANCK FIFE/AFP via Getty Images) /

Despite statements made last November and then again last month which appeared to rule out Michael Jordan investing in a NASCAR Cup Series team, it was never off the table.

On Monday evening, it was confirmed that the charter used by Germain Racing to field the #13 Chevrolet in the NASCAR Cup Series had been sold to NBA legend Michael Jordan, who is slated to start a one-car team with Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin as a partner and Bubba Wallace as the driver in 2021.

Wallace announced earlier this month that he would not be returning for what would have been a fourth season driving the #43 Chevrolet for Richard Petty Motorsports next year, and it was announced early Monday that Ross Chastain was set to replace Matt Kenseth behind the wheel of the #42 Chevrolet at Chip Ganassi Racing.

Chip Ganassi Racing had also offered Wallace a seat, so it was clear that the 26-year-old Mobile, Alabama native had something else up his sleeve.

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Jordan, who made comments that he was not interested in becoming a team owner last November, had been rumored for several weeks to be involved in the ownership of a new team along with Hamlin, who has had a relationship with Nike’s Michael Jordan Brand for several years.

But his spokesperson, Estee Portnoy, seemed to shoot down these rumors, indicating that there was “no truth” to them. However, Portnoy’s statement only said that there was “no truth” to the idea that Jordan would be investing into Richard Petty Motorsports, which was the rumor at the time.

Here is that statement, according to FOX Business.

"“There is no truth to that rumor at all. Michael Jordan is not considering an investment in NASCAR’s Richard Petty Motorsports.”"

While many of the Jordan talks subsided from this point forward, this comment clearly never mentioned that nothing else was on the table, and as we now know, there was more going on behind the scenes, as the six-time NBA champion and Hall of Famer is now a NASCAR team owner.

Jordan’s comments from last November further illustrated that idea that he wouldn’t be investing in a Cup Series team. But again, he didn’t definitively rule it out.

Here were his comments from November, according to NBC Sports.

"“I love being a fan. I still understand the sport, but in terms of ownership, I think I’m just gonna sit back and watch it and support from afar.”"

For the next 10 months, that’s exactly what he did. But things change, and in about four and a half months from now, that is slated to change.

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The Daytona 500 is scheduled to kick off the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season at Daytona International Speedway on Sunday, February 14.

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