The Talledega Superspeedway winner lifts the lid on what it’s like to drive for the NBA icon’s racing team
Bubba Wallace, the star driver for Michael Jordan’s NASCAR team, has spoken about what it’s like to work for the NBA legend.
Jordan has owned and operated the 23XI racing team and Wallace drives the No.23 car, which was numbered after the basketball star’s famous Chicago Bulls jersey.
The five-time NBA Most Valuable Player was a notoriously tough taskmaster with team-mates and coaches throughout his illustrious NBA career, which saw him win six championships and establish a legacy as the greatest basketball player of all time.
But it seems the 61-year-old is a more understanding owner. In a recent interview with Fox News Digital, Wallace – a new father after the birth of his son, Becks Hayden – explained how Jordan has been keen to ensure the driver is well rested.
“He just keeps asking if I’m getting enough sleep, and surprisingly enough, we are getting sleep. Becks sleeps pretty good, most nights,” Wallace said.
The 31-year-old racing star has been with Jordan’s team since 2021 and has written his name into the history books as the highest-finishing driver ever in the Daytona 500.
He has also recorded wins at the Talledega Superspeedway and the 2022 Hollywood Casino 400.
And while Jordan demonstrated an empathetic side with enquiries over the driver’s sleep after his son was born, Wallace also detailed how the competitive fire that drove Jordan to unprecedented NBA success still burns.
“He’s competitive,” Wallace said of Jordan as a boss. “He’s a lot of fun, he’s a guy that you can take jabs at, and he’ll dish it right back, so you have to have thick skin. That’s how I was brought up and raised, and trash talk is half the game, and he’s probably one of the best to do it.