From antitrust fight to victory lane: Michael Jordan’s 23XI grabs a Daytona 500 win

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Michael Jordan inherited the racing bug from his late father, who routinely packed everyone into the car and drove from North Carolina to a handful of tracks every year as attending NASCAR races became Jordan family vacations.

Decades later, Jordan is now a Daytona 500 winner.

He was an ecstatic team owner during the victory celebration, which he joined seconds before winner Tyler Reddick was presented the trophy.

Reddick paused the party and was enveloped in Jordan’s arms before the Basketball Hall of Famer gave high-fives to the No. 45 crew from 23XI Racing. A stream of well-wishers soon followed, including NASCAR chairman Jim France, who warmly congratulated Jordan with a smile and a handshake.

It was at least the second cordial public interaction the two have shared since December, when France and NASCAR settled the federal antitrust lawsuit that 23XI and Front Row Motorsports had lodged. The lawsuit consumed the sport for more than two years and ended on the ninth day of trial, when NASCAR relented and settled before the top motorsports series in the United States suffered any more humiliation.

The settlement was a huge win for Jordan, who forever will be viewed as the team owner bold enough to stand up to NASCAR’s dictatorship way of ruling the series. But that was already behind Jordan by the time he got to Daytona International Speedway, where he started Sunday by insisting the goal was to help grow NASCAR moving forward and focus on making 23XI a championship-contending race team.

“Both sides have been somewhat at a stalemate and we both needed to have conversations about change, how we can grow this sport,” Jordan told Fox Sports before the green flag. “Unfortunately, we had to go through what we had to go through. But I think coming out of that, you have a much better appreciation for each other and I think it opens up conversations amongst each other to continue to grow the game.”

Hours later, he was in victory lane celebrating as if he'd just won a seventh NBA championship. When France stopped by, it was clear all parties are moving forward.

Denny Hamlin, the three-time Daytona 500 winner who is partners with Jordan at 23XI, was the winning team owner representative in post-victory requirements and said there are no lingering bad feelings among the parties.

“I think December was a wake-up call. I think that the conversations since then have been a lot of self-reflection, in my opinion, from NASCAR. I think they would have done things differently had they had the opportunity to,” Hamlin said. "But we knew that we needed to stick up for what we believed was right. We have to now figure out how we can get the sport back where it was decades ago.

"In order to do that, the only way we can do it is we’re all going to have to pull the rope in the same direction. Even conversations that I’ve had with NASCAR executives as late as a couple days ago, sitting in a bus talking about what do we need to be five years from now, two years from now, 10 years from now. What does the sport need to look like?

“Those were all really good conversations, and they were very open to suggestions.”

Jordan didn't become a NASCAR participant until 2021, when he partnered with Hamlin, a three-time Daytona 500 winner, to form 23XI. He attends races — sometimes he watches from pit road, other times a suite — and although others run the team, Jordan is involved and sounds committed to NASCAR.

The Reddick win was a win for NASCAR, Hamlin argued, because it got Jordan into the headlines.

“It’s big for the sport. He’s the most popular athlete in the world. I don’t think there’s any disputing that,” Hamlin said. “He loves the sport, and certainly he goes to a lot of races. Sometimes you don’t even see him and he’s there. He makes more races than people know. He loves this race team.”

AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

Tyler Reddick celebrates with the team his win of the NASCAR Daytona 500 auto race at Daytona International Speedway, Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026, in Daytona Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Nigel Cook)

Tyler Reddick celebrates with the team his win of the NASCAR Daytona 500 auto race at Daytona International Speedway, Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026, in Daytona Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Nigel Cook)

23XI Racing owner Michael Jordan speaks with CEO and Chairman of NASCAR, Jim Frantz after Tyler Reddick won the NASCAR Daytona 500 auto race at Daytona International Speedway, Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026, in Daytona Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Nigel Cook)

CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, Italy (AP) — He was named after two basketball stars, with his father hoping he would end up following in their footsteps. In a way, he has.

Meet Shaquille Anfernee Murray-Lawrence, a Canadian bobsled push athlete at the Milan Cortina Games. He was born in 1993, and yes, was named after Shaquille O'Neal and Anfernee “Penny” Hardaway, who were teammates with the Orlando Magic and teamed up to win Olympic gold for USA Basketball at the Atlanta Games in 1996.

Murray-Lawrence probably won't be winning gold at these games — he and pilot Taylor Austin were 15th after Monday's first two runs of the two-man event — but he can say that, just like his namesakes, he's now an Olympian.

“Today is very special for me, my country, my friends, family, my whole community," Murray-Lawrence said. "Just being able to give it my all and just represent Canada.”

Murray-Lawrence is not a 7-footer who could dominate the paint like O'Neal. Nor is he a 6-footer with the smooth handles and explosive playmaking of Hardaway. At somewhere around 5-foot-8, the Ontario high school grad decided to pursue football in the United States.

Loads of of letters to college coaches went largely unanswered. He ended up at a junior college in Texas — and then the school closed.

He went to another junior college, and then transferred to UNLV, where despite averaging 7 yards every time he touched the ball, he was apparently most notable for having the “longest name ever at the school,” deemed: “ the hardest fit in Rebel roster history."

The Canadian Football League came calling, however. All the while, Bobsled Canada took notice.

And his winding track through sport now requires a sleigh.

“My father was definitely a Shaq fan, and he hoped one day that I would grow to 7 feet tall and be dunking in basketball," Murray-Lawrence said. "That never happened, but I was blessed with tremendous speed, tremendous heart, tremendous pride, and that’s all I need.”

There have been other athletes named Shaquille in the Olympics before, including a swimmer from Zambia named Shaquille Moosa — who finished the 50-meter event at the 2020 Tokyo Games (held in 2021 because of the pandemic) ranked 56th out of 73 swimmers.

And Greece had a basketball player named Sofoklis Schortsanitis, who went by “Baby Shaq” because of his massive frame and massive personality. Schortsanitis played in the 2008 Beijing Games, scoring 15 points during the tournament with three of those points coming in a loss to the U.S.

Now there's Murray-Lawrence. He heard O'Neal might be coming to the Olympics. He'd love nothing more than to meet him at the bobsled track.

“It’s a powerful name, you know," Murray-Lawrence said. "The name has a great legacy to it and I’m glad I’m able to hold up my end of the bargain. I wasn’t in basketball but, you know, I’ve dominated two sports now — so I think I’m doing pretty good.”

AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

Former Miami Heat players Shaquille O'Neal, right and Gary Payton smiles during a half time celebration of the 2006 NBA champions Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026, in Miami. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

Canada's Taylor Austin, front, and Shaquille Murray-Lawrence start for a two man bobsled run at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Monday, Feb. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Canada's Taylor Austin, front, and Shaquille Murray-Lawrence slide down the track during a two man bobsled run at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Monday, Feb. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)

Canada's Taylor Austin, right, and Shaquille Murray-Lawrence start for a two man bobsled run at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Monday, Feb. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)