Michael Jordan on Bubba Wallace-Led NASCAR Team: 'I Want to Win Tomorrow'

Michael Jordan isn't wasting any time in his jump into NASCAR ownership. The six-time NBA champion wants to win immediately. 

"If you're asking me, I want to win tomorrow as soon as we get on the track. I know it is a process," Jordan told Bob Pockrass of Fox Sports. "It's a process and you're going to have to learn it. But if every step, each day, you move towards winning the day—tomorrow is better than the day yesterday—I have hope. But if you start going backwards then you lose that hope. I know that it's time that I'm patient. I'm absolutely patient."

Jordan announced the launch of a NASCAR team this week, with Denny Hamlin serving as a minority owner and Bubba Wallace signed on to drive the car. He is the first Black principal owner of a NASCAR team since Wendell Scott, who owned a team from 1961-1973.

Wallace is the lone Black driver on NASCAR's top circuit. He has been a vocal opponent of racial injustice and led the charge in NASCAR's ban of the Confederate flag from its events earlier this year. Jordan said Wallace's activism made him a perfect partner for his new venture. 

NASCAR, which is overwhelmingly white, has long struggled with issues of diversity. 

"For so long, it's been viewed from a negative aspect with the Confederate flag and all these other things that occurred," Jordan said of NASCAR's reputation in the Black community. "Now you go in with NASCAR making an effort to change the perspective and try to attract and connect to the next generation without losing something for today's authenticity of the sport.

"[It] presented an opportunity for me obviously to get involved in this whole process that I am spearheading a thought process of Blacks getting involved in NASCAR."

Wallace previously drove for Richard Petty Racing and chose to leave after the 2020 season rather than extend his contract. The 26-year-old has nine top-10 finishes in his NASCAR career.