Michael Jordan’s Daytona 500 debut was as astonishing as his free-throw dunk

The Bulls legend and Bubba Wallace’s black-owned team broke barriers in a sport with a history of intolerance. But Nascar’s redemption is not complete

With one lap left in Sunday’s Daytona 500, Bubba Wallace made his move. Pinned behind 15 cars arranged in a neat row on the top groove of Daytona’s 2.5-mile oval, Wallace charged into the bottom lane behind Kevin Harvick in hope of running down race leader Joey Logano. Just when Wallace appeared to be gathering steam – disaster. Brad Keselowski, jostled by an extra-hard shove from Michael McDowell, rocketed him into Logano’s left-side rear bumper, triggering a multicar pile-up. Wallace might have snuck through if Logano’s windmilling Ford hadn’t hit his Toyota flush on the nose. In the end Wallace finished a fiery 17th while McDowell stole the checkered flag under caution. Needless to say, you can expect Michael Jordan to take this personally.

Besides maybe Harry and Meghan, you would be hard pressed to name another couple people are rooting harder for than Jordan and Wallace – Nascar’s new racing royalty. Wallace is the supremely gifted Nascar driver who happens to be an anti-racism trailblazer. And Jordan is a lifelong racing fan who finally has some skin in the game after decades of fence sitting. Last September they would make their relationship official, forming a single-car operation called 23XI Racing (pronounced twenty-three eleven). Wallace signed on as a free agent, Jordan as a co-owner alongside the veteran Cup driver and longtime Jordan Brand ambassador Denny Hamlin. Together, Jordan and Wallace give Nascar folk not one but two black friends to point to the next time the sport’s grim track record of intolerance is challenged.

AN ABSOLUTELY WILD FINISH TO THE #DAYTONA500

Michael McDowell walks away with the win, everyone in the crash managed to exit their cars safely.

(: @NASCAR) pic.twitter.com/bBuR1HJ49J