On the basketball court, there’s no denying that Michael Jordan was a better player than Brad Daughtery. On the NASCAR race track, however, Daughtery has finally accomplished something that Jordan hasn’t, and the trash-talking has officially begun.
Daughtery, who played center for the Cleveland Cavaliers during Jordan’s Chicago Bulls heyday, is the co-owner of JTG Daugherty Racing Team, whose car was driven by Ricky Stenhouse Jr. to Victory Lane on Sunday night after winning the 2023 Daytona 500. The five-time NBA All-Star officially became the first Black principal owner of a racing team to win The Great American Race.
Meanwhile, Jordan, who is a co-owner of 23XI Racing with Denny Hamlin, is still waiting for that Daytona 500 victory lap.
Now, it sounds like the two are engaged in some friendly back-and-forth over the competition.
“I talked to him for a few minutes,” JTG Daugherty part-owner Jodi Geschickter said on Sunday night, via the Charlotte Observer. “He said that he and Michael Jordan are already talking trash.
“It was more about the team and more about my partnership with my husband, and doing this project with him. He’s always been a huge supporter of me, and we’re a great support system for each other.”
Geschickter, it should be noted, is now the second female owner to win a Daytona 500, following in the footsteps of Teresa Earnhardt.