TALLADEGA, Ala. — Michael Jordan's supposed bad luck at the race track has been disproven.
Former NBA star, Michael Jordan, was ecstatic as Tyler Reddick clinched a NASCAR Cup victory at Talladega Superspeedway,dodging a crash just before the finish line.
This marked the first time Michael Jordan, co-owner of 23XI Racing with Denny Hamlin, witnessed a victory for one of his drivers at the track.
Beaming with joy at Victory Lane, Jordan dismissed the notion of being bad luck and expressed his happiness at witnessing the win for the first time.
Pole-sitter Michael McDowell's efforts to block rival Brad Keselowski ended in a crash, allowing Tyler Reddick to claim victory.
Following the crash between McDowell and Keselowski, Tyler Reddick seized the chance and won the race by a narrow margin of 0.208 seconds.
The crash also involved several other cars, resulting in Corey LaJoie's vehicle sliding on its side across the finish line.
After the win, Tyler Reddick celebrated by climbing up the fence like Spider-Man.
Tyler Reddick exclaimed to the fans about the chaotic race, encapsulating the essence of Talladega's unpredictability.
For Jordan, the victory evoked memories of his glory days in basketball, particularly hitting buzzer-beaters during his six NBA championships.
However, it's evident that Jordan's current passion lies in stock car racing.
Jordan likened the significance of winning a major race to an NBA playoff game and expressed his full dedication, despite not having control over the outcome.
Brad Keselowski, unable to secure a victory since his triumph three years ago at the same track, settled for second place.
Keselowski expressed frustration about the race's outcome, highlighting the unpredictable nature of such events.
Michael McDowell apologized to Keselowski and the other drivers involved in the crash.
McDowell acknowledged his role in causing the crash and accepted responsibility for the unfortunate outcome at Talladega.
Tyler Reddick's win made up for a previous flawed strategy that eliminated several Toyota contenders, including co-owner Denny Hamlin, who also races for Joe Gibbs Racing.
All three teams driving Toyota cars pitted at the same time with 37 laps remaining. They planned to use a strategy that would have allowed them to increase their speed compared to other cars saving fuel, with the intention of drafting their way to the front to win the race.
Sadly, they were unable to keep their cars moving in a straight line.
Just four laps later, while the Toyota cars were driving in a fast, single-file line and closing in on the front-running pack, John Hunter Nemechek seemed to bump into Bubba Wallace, who is a teammate of Reddick at 23XI. This caused Wallace to hit Erik Jones, sending him crashing into the outside wall.
Nemechek then slid down the track and also collided with Hamlin.
“We had a plan,” Wallace said. “We just didn’t execute it as well as we should have. I hate it. It doesn’t make us look good at all.”
Jones took the worst of the impact, but the crash would have been even more severe without the strong cars and protective barriers.
Initially, he was checked and released from the infield care center, stating “I’m a little sore, but I’m all right.” However, Jones’ team later announced that he was taken to a hospital for further observation after the race, without providing details about his injuries.
Reddick was leading the pack and managed to avoid the crash.
In the end, he surprisingly won the race.
Known for well-timed verbal jabs, Jordan couldn’t resist making a sly comment about his co-owner, who was leaving until he realized Reddick had won.
“Actually. he did a good job of wrecking,” Jordan said of Hamlin, “so we could get up front. That was actually pretty good.”
CLEAN RACING
The first two stages had no caution flags, a rare occurrence at Talladega since the stage system began in 2017. Many drivers were focused on saving fuel and did not attempt many daring moves.
Finally, on lap 132, while the cars were three-wide and closely packed in a large group, the first crash happened.
Justin Haley was bumped from behind and spun into Christopher Bell, causing heavy damage to Bell's car and resulting in a last-place finish for him.
IMPRESSIVE KIWI
Shane Van Gisbergen had a strong performance in his first oval race in the NASCAR Cup series.
After his remarkable win in the Chicago street race during his Cup debut last summer, Van Gisbergen demonstrated his talent by leading laps and avoiding trouble at the challenging 2.66-mile trioval until the very end.
Regrettably, the 34-year-old from New Zealand was involved in the final collision and did not finish the race. He ended up in 27th place.
STARTING AT THE BACK
The points leader of the season, Kyle Larson, started the race at a significant disadvantage after his team was penalized for modifying the roof rails on his No. 5 car while heading to the qualifying line on Saturday.
As a result, Larson, who had secured three consecutive pole positions, was not allowed to qualify, had to start from the back of the pack, and was required to complete a drive-through penalty on the opening lap. By the time he reached full speed, he was at least half a lap behind the pack and was caught by the leaders on the 12th lap.
NASCAR removed Larson’s car chief, Jesse Saunders, from the speedway.
Larson managed to get back into the competition but he wasn’t a strong competitor in the end. He finished 20th.
UP NEXT
The Cup series will go to Dover Motor Speedway next Sunday, where Martin Truex Jr. was the winner of the race last year.
