Michael Jordan told to 'stay away' from NASCAR races after huge Indy win

Michael Jordan may well have had a hand in Bubba Wallace’s epic NASCAR Cup Series victory at Indianapolis on Sunday, he just didn’t know it.

Wallace was a brilliant winner of the Brickyard 400 at IMS, holding off Kyle Larson in a dramatic finish to snap a 100-race, three-year winless streak.

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While Wallace, shirtless and chugging from a champagne bottle, partied into the night postrace, 23XI team owner Jordan was not on hand to witness the celebrations. He did though talk at length with his 31-year-old driver about the long-awaited return to Victory Lane.

Bubba on Indy win and the MJ factor

Speaking to Shannon Sharpe and Chad Ochocinco on the Nightcap podcast, Wallace revealed: “He was just super proud man, really really proud and he was really happy for me. And I was bummed, I was bummed that he wasn’t there. Because [Tyler] Reddick, teammate, he’s got a win with MJ there - I think he’s got multiple wins with MJ there - and my three wins he hasn’t been there. But I thought that one would have been awesome.”

While Wallace was disappointed his boss wasn’t there in person to witness him kiss the bricks Sunday night, he also thinks his absence might well be a good thing…

He continued: “Stay away! hey, I’ve got three of them, you ain’t there, that’s fine with me. But I said ‘man, I wish you were here’ and he said ‘well I’ll have a drink for you in spirit’ so that was super cool.

“He’s always watching, you guys know him, he could be doing so much other things with his time and money and effort. But he loves NASCAR, he’s been a fan for so long. And he understands how hard it is, and he loves the process to see his team go through to get to the top.”

That three-year winless streak might have had some team owners looking for a new driver, but Wallace spoke about the unwavering support he has received from Jordan. He added though that it did come with a warning as well.

“MJ has been super loyal to me and has been one of my biggest supporters and it’s not every day where somebody can say that, right? And so I definitely don’t take those words for granted.

“I appreciate that support but I also know that he also told me ‘don’t get comfortable, always keep pushing for more’ and I’m never the person to get comfortable because I am so competitive and I want to win every damn race we enter.”

Wallace had an ‘oh s***’ moment'

Wallace spoke in depth about how he clinched victory on Sunday, including an ‘oh s***’ moment and his desire for the race to go full distance to avoid the potential for any controversy.

“Man, the last 20 laps when we got the lead, honestly I didn’t know how many laps were left. I thought it was way more than 20 laps to go. So when my spotter told me 20 to go, I said ‘Oh s***, alright, we gotta get serious here, we got a chance’.

“Rain came through, had a little bit of a delay, had a red flag, but I told myself I didn’t want to win it this way. I won Talladega like this in 2021 - you know much controversy that started - I wanted to win it fair and square, straight up, and get the 23 back to Victory Lane. And so I just stayed in the ready mindset.”

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