Tyler Reddick Wins Daytona 500 for Michael Jordan's Team

After years of heartbreak and struggle, Michael Jordan just earned a championship ring that has nothing to do with basketball.

Tyler Reddick swerved through crashing cars on the final lap of the Daytona 500 to deliver NASCAR's biggest prize to 23XI Racing, the team co-owned by Jordan and three-time Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin. The 30-year-old driver led exactly one lap: the last one.

"I'm not even sure what happened because I was so focused in the moment," Reddick said in Victory Lane between hugs and champagne. "But here's what I've learned from my bosses: You have to be in position to win it when it's time to win it."

The victory was textbook Jordan. Reddick started 26th and spent most of the 200 laps hanging back, preserving his car for one final push. When the white flag waved for the last lap, he sat somewhere between third and fifth in a three-wide pack of 30 cars.

Then chaos erupted. Cars spun in front and behind him as he threaded the needle to the checkered flag.

"You hire a driver like Tyler because he is a wheelman," said Hamlin, whose own bid for a fourth 500 victory ended in a late crash. "Patience isn't easy, especially for race car drivers."

Why This Inspires

This win meant more than a trophy. In 2024, Reddick won the regular season but fell short of the championship. Last year brought a frightening health scare when his infant son needed kidney removal surgery.

Hamlin faced his own darkness. He lost a heartbreaking championship race last November, then lost his father to injuries from a house fire in December.

The team also spent months in a legal battle with NASCAR over antitrust issues. When NASCAR executives lined up for traditional victory photos, former legal opponents hugged it out.

Both of Reddick's sons, both healthy, greeted him in Victory Lane. Jordan admired the championship ring before slipping away from the celebration.

"There are a lot of people here with us right now that have wanted to feel good about something for a long time," Reddick said, his voice breaking. "I can't imagine much feeling better than this."

Jordan put it simply: "Games aren't won in the first quarter. But you can't make a buzzer beater if you aren't there for the buzzer."

The win ended a 38-race drought for Reddick and gave Jordan a ring shiny enough to sit alongside his basketball collection.