AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Michael Jordan calls Denny Hamlin the “mastermind” behind their 23XI NASCAR racing team. Hamlin calls their co-ownership a “perfect partnership.”
The team has been nothing shy of perfect behind driver Tyler Reddick so far early in 2026.
Reddick became the first driver in Cup Series history to win the first three races of the season Sunday. He started the first road course race of the year from pole position, then held off hard-charging Shane van Gisbergen for the victory at the Circuit of the Americas
When Reddick's Toyota zoomed across the finish line, Jordan was celebrating with the pit crew as the basketball Hall of Famer and six-time NBA champion exchanged high-fives and hugs.
Reddick has been seeing a lot of postrace smiles from Jordan — after he won the Daytona 500 and then again in Atlanta. Reddick said Jordan reminded him last week that he “does things in threes,” referring to Jordan's NBA championships clusters with the Chicago Bulls.
“I was really glad to live up to that standard,” Reddick said.
Jordan's having so much fun, he now wants to go for four.
“I'm going to Phoenix,” Jordan said, noting the next race on the calendar.
And why not? The team is having a lot of fun on its march through NASCAR history.
Jordan and Hamlin took on NASCAR with a federal antitrust lawsuit. The settlement in December was considered a major legal victory that secured a permanent franchise-style model and ensured the team would remain in business for the long-term.
Jordan gives Hamlin the credit for building the race-winning team on the track, specifically noting Hamlin's pursuit of Reddick as a driver.
“He's the mastermind,” Jordan said. “I just put up the money. Denny’s done an incredible job building this team.”
Hamlin gave the compliment right back.
“It's a perfect partnership,” Hamlin said. “This doesn't work out if he doesn’t give me a lot of autonomy.”
Hamlin, who also drives for Joe Gibbs Racing, said he wanted to be as hands-on as possible when building the team.
“I wanted to make sure if it failed it was because of something I did,” Hamlin said. “This team had three employees working at. We had zero. We didn’t buy a team, we just built it.”
Bringing in Reddick has proven almost priceless.
The 30-year-old driver raced to his first win with 23XI at COTA in 2023. He was second at Daytona in 2025, but a season that started with such promise ended winless.
Now he seems unbeatable.
“What a dream start for those guys,” Hamlin said.
AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing
23XI Racing's Tyler Reddick, center, celebrates his win during a NASCAR Cup Series auto race in Austin, Texas, Sunday, March 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Stephen Spillman)
23XI Racing's team co-owner Denny Hamlin speaks to media follow a win by his driver Tyler Reddick during a NASCAR Cup Series auto race in Austin, Texas, Sunday, March 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Stephen Spillman)
Team co-owner Michael Jordan celebrates by 23XI Racing's Tyler Reddick during a NASCAR Cup Series auto race in Austin, Texas, Sunday, March 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Stephen Spillman)
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Lebanon’s government says it considers Hezbollah’s military activities illegal acts and says the group should hand over its weapons.
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said only the state is the side that decides whether to go to war or pace. He added on Monday that all Hezbollah’s military activities are banned and Hezbollah should only work in politics.
The government called on security agencies to prevent the firing of missiles or drones and detain those behind it.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The U.S. military said on Monday that Kuwait “mistakenly shot down” thee American F-15E Strike Eagles during a combat mission as Iran attacked the country.
The U.S. military’s Central Command said the combat included attacks from Iranian aircraft, ballistic missiles and drones -- the first time Iran’s aging combat fleet has been engaged in the war.
“The U.S. Air Force fighter jets were mistakenly shot down by Kuwaiti air defenses,” it said. “All six aircrew ejected safely, have been safely recovered, and are in stable condition. Kuwait has acknowledged this incident, and we are grateful for the efforts of the Kuwaiti defense forces and their support in this ongoing operation.”
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran and Iranian-backed militias fired missiles at Israel and Arab states, apparently hitting the U.S. Embassy compound in Kuwait, while Israel and the United States pounded targets in Iran as the war expanded on Monday with statements of defiance and increasing casualties.
At least 555 people have been killed in Iran so far by the U.S.-Israeli campaign, the Iranian Red Crescent Society said, and more than 130 cities across the country having come under attack. Eleven people have been killed in Israel and 31 in Lebanon, according to authorities there.
In Kuwait, fire and smoke rose from inside the U.S. Embassy compound and the defense ministry said “several” American warplanes had also crashed in the country. The ministry did not elaborate on what caused the crashes or how many aircraft were involved, but said the pilots were taken to a hospital and were in stable condition.
Iranian state television claimed Iran had targeted U.S. aircraft, without elaborating. The U.S. military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The embassy compound was hit not long after U.S. issued a warning to Americans there to take cover and for others to stay away. There were no immediate reports on damage or casualties.
Multiple airstrikes hit Tehran, Iran’s capital, on Monday afternoon, while top Iranian security official Ali Larijani vowed on X that “we will not negotiate with the United States.”
In Iraq, a pro-Iranian militia claimed responsibility for a drone attack targeting U.S. troops at the Baghdad airport, the day after it said it fired at a U.S. base in the city of Irbil in the north, and Cyprus said a drone attack targeted a British base on the Mediterranean island nation.
Israel and the U.S. bombed Iranian missile sites and targeted its navy, claiming to have destroyed its headquarters and multiple warships.
World markets were rattled by the fighting and oil prices soared. Saudi Arabia’s Ras Tanura oil refinery came under a drone attack on Monday, with defenses downing the incoming aircraft, a military spokesman told the state-run Saudi Press Agency.
Online videos from the site appeared to show thick black smoke rising after the attack. Even successfully intercepted drones cause debris that can spark fires and injure those on the ground.
Ras Tanura, near the city of Dammam in eastern Saudi Arabia, is one of the world's largest with a capacity over half a million barrels of crude oil a day. It was temporarily shut down as a precaution after the attack, Saudi state television reported.
Oman said a bomb-carrying drone boat exploded against Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman on Monday, off the coast of the sultanate's capital of Muskat, killing one mariner. The state-run Oman News Agency said the dead crew member was from India.
Earlier in the day, debris fell on Kuwait's Ahmadi oil refinery, injuring two workers, after drones were shot down, the state-run KUNA news agency reported.
Iran’s decision to expands its attacks to major regional oil infrastructure adds a new element to the war gripping the Middle East, directly targeting the lifeblood of the area's economy.
“The attack on Saudi Arabia’s Ras Tanura refinery marks a significant escalation, with Gulf energy infrastructure now squarely in Iran’s sights,” said Torbjorn Soltvedt, an analyst at the risk intelligence company Verisk Maplecroft.
“An extended period of uncertainty lies ahead as Iran seeks to impose a heavy economic cost by putting tankers, regional energy infrastructure, trade routes and U.S. security partners in the crosshairs,” he added.
Iran has also threatened ships in the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which a fifth of all oil traded passes. Several ships have been attacked as well there.
Sascha Bruchmann, a defense analyst with the International Institute for Strategic Studies in Bahrain, told The Associated Press that Iran's goal in hitting energy infrastructure is to “cause global backlash.” So far, however, “this is not the wholesome destruction of critical infrastructure the Iranian regime seeks,” Bruchmann said.
Iran’s Ambassador to the U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, Reza Najafi, told reporters that the U.S.-Israeli airstrikes had targeted Iran's Natanz nuclear enrichment site on Sunday.
“Again they attacked Iran’s peaceful safeguarded nuclear facilities yesterday,” he said. “Their justification that Iran wants to develop nuclear weapons is simply a big lie.”
Israel and the U.S. have not acknowledged strikes at the site, which the U.S. bombed back in the 12-day war between Iran and Israel in June. The Israeli military also did not immediately comment on Najafi's allegation.
Israel has not publicized specific targets in Iran but has said that it is targeting “leadership and nuclear infrastructure.”
As the attacks on Iran continued, Hezbollah said it fired missiles from Lebanon into Israel early Monday in response to the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and “repeated Israeli aggressions.” There were no reports of injuries or damage, and Israel said that it had intercepted one projectile while several fell in open areas.
Israel retaliated with strikes on Lebanon, killing at least 31 people and wounding 149 others, according to Lebanon's Health Ministry. About two thirds of the dead were in the country's south.
Lebanon’s government said it was holding an emergency meeting after Hezbollah’s attack on Israel triggered the Israeli airstrikes.
Iran has been firing missiles at Israel and Arab states in a counteroffensive since the joint America-Israeli attack Saturday that killed Khamenei and many top Iranian officials.
Gulf Arab states have warned that they could retaliate against Iran after strikes that hit key sites and killed at least five civilians, and U.S. President Donald Trump promised Washington would “avenge” the deaths of three American troops who were killed in Kuwait, while predicting more casualties.
“Sadly, there will likely be more before it ends,” Trump said. “That’s the way it is.”
Trump has urged Iranians to “take over” their government and, while he has also signaled he would be open to dialogue with new leadership there following the death of Khamenei, suggested Sunday there was no end in sight to the military operations.
“Combat operations continue at this time in full-force, and they will continue until all of our objectives are achieved,” he said in a video message. “We have very strong objectives,” he added, without elaborating.
The U.S. military said B-2 stealth bombers struck Iran’s ballistic missile facilities with 2,000-pound bombs. Trump said on social media that nine Iranian warships had been sunk and that the Iranian navy’s headquarters had been “largely destroyed.”
Others have mostly stayed out of the war and pressed for diplomacy. But in an indication that the conflict could draw in other nations, Britain, France and Germany said Sunday they were ready to work with the U.S. to help stop Iran’s attacks.
Early Monday, Cyprus said an uncrewed drone “caused limited damage” when it hit a British air base on the southern coast. Further details were not immediately available, but it came after British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the U.K. would help the U.S. in the war against Iran.
The weekend attacks were the second time in eight months that the U.S. and Israel had combined against Iran, in a startling show of military might for an American president elected on an “America First” platform and pledged to keep out of “forever wars.”
In the 12-day war last June, Israeli and American strikes greatly weakened Iran’s air defenses, military leadership and nuclear program. But the killing of Khamenei, who ruled Iran for more than three decades, creates a leadership vacuum, increasing the risk of regional instability.
Hezbollah’s launch of missiles at Israel was the first time in more than a year that the militant group has claimed an attack.
Iran’s proxies were a chief concern for American and Israeli officials before they suspended negotiations with Iran last week and moved ahead with strikes on Iran.
Israel said the Lebanese militant Hezbollah group had “joined the campaign” alongside Iran as it retaliated with strikes on Beirut, Lebanon's capital.
Associated Press journalists in Beirut were jolted awake by a series of loud explosions that shook buildings and caused windows to shatter. Warplanes could be heard flying low overhead.
“The strikes continue,” said Maj. Gen. Rafi Milo, head of Israel’s Northern Command. “Their intensity will increase.”
The Iraqi Shiite militia Saraya Awliya al-Dam claimed a drone attack Monday targeting U.S. troops at the airport in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, further widening the retaliation over the killing of Khamenei. It had claimed a drone attack on Sunday against a U.S. air base in Irbil, in Iraq’s north.
The group is one of a number of Shiite militias operating in Iraq. The U.S. and Iraq did not immediately comment on the claims.
In the Persian Gulf, Iran’s retaliatory strikes pushed the conflict into cities that have long marketed themselves as regional safe havens. Three people were reported killed in the United Arab Emirates and one each in Kuwait and Bahrain.
In the United Arab Emirates, authorities said most Iranian missiles and drones were intercepted. But some either got through or fell as debris, causing the deaths and significant damage. Bahrain and Kuwait said Iranian strikes in both countries hit civilian targets outside the U.S. bases where Iran had pledged to retaliate.
Tehran’s streets have been largely deserted with people sheltering during airstrikes. The paramilitary Basij force, which has played a central role in crushing recent protests, set up checkpoints across the city, according to witnesses.
In the northern Iranian city of Babol, a student, speaking anonymously over concerns of retribution, told the AP that armed riot police were on the streets Saturday night and into the early hours of Sunday after the death of Khamenei.
“We don’t know whether to be happy about the elimination of the criminals who oppress us or to remain silent in the face of the U.S. and Israel’s war against the country and its interests and the terror that is taking place,” he said.
In Israel, rescue services have confirmed several locations have been hit by Iranian missiles, including Jerusalem and a synagogue in Beit Shemesh, where nine people were killed and 28 wounded, bringing the overall death toll in the country to 11.
The World Health Organization called Monday for sparing civilians and healthcare facilities in the Middle East amid the escalating conflict.
“The protection of civilians and health care must be absolute,” Hanan Balkhy, regional dietitian at WHO wrote on social media. “All parties must … ensure medical facilities remain protected.”
Rising reported from Bangkok and Magdy from Cairo. Associated Press writers Bassem Mroue and Sally Abou AlJoud in Beirut contributed to this report.
A man holds an Iranian flag as he looks at the damaged façade of Gandhi Hospital, which was hit Sunday when a strike also struck a state TV communications tower and nearby buildings across the street during the ongoing joint U.S.–Israeli military campaign in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, March 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Smoke rises following Israeli bombardment in southern Lebanon as seen from northern Israel Monday, March 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
Iraqi Shiites hold pictures of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed by a U.S. airstrike in Tehran, during a symbolic funeral, in Najaf, Iraq, Sunday, March 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Anmar Khalil)
This image provided by U.S. Central Command shows a F/A-18F Super Hornet preparing to make an arrested landing on the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72)) in support of Operation Epic Fury, on Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026. (U.S. Navy via AP)
In this photo taken with a slow shutter speed, a Middle East Airlines plane flies over Beirut as smoke rises from Israeli airstrikes on Dahiyeh in Beirut's southern suburbs, early Monday, March 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
A man takes pictures of the damage in an apartment building after it was hit by an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut's southern suburb, Lebanon, Monday, March 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
This image provided by U.S. Central Command shows a Navy sailor observing flight operations aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72)) in support of Operation Epic Fury, on Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026. (U.S. Navy via AP)
Iraqi Shiites hold pictures of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed by a U.S. airstrike in Tehran, during a symbolic funeral, in Najaf, Iraq, Sunday, March 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Anmar Khalil)
