Sports
What Michael Jordan is like as a NASCAR boss, according to his star driver
Michael Jordan bestowed the honor of driving his NASCAR team’s signature car, one that bears his own number 23, to Bubba Wallace for the last three years.
After joining Jordan in 2021, Wallace earned his first career win at Talladega Superspeedway and earned three top 5 and three top 10 finishes in just his first year as part of Jordan’s team 23XI Racing. He has gone on to become one of the sport’s most famous and polarizing figures and has carved a unique spot for himself in its history as the highest-finishing Black driver in the Daytona 500.
Now, he is also a new father. Wallace welcomed his son, Becks Hayden, with his wife Amanda on Sept. 29.
As a first time father, Wallace said Jordan is checking on him to make sure he is getting enough sleep.
“He just keeps asking if I’m getting enough sleep, and surprisingly enough, we are getting sleep. Becks sleeps pretty good, most nights,” Wallace told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview.
Bubba Wallace, driver of the #23 Toyota Genuine Parts/Mobil 1 Toyota, waits on the grid during practice for the NASCAR Cup Series Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway on Sept. 20, 2024 in Bristol, Tennessee. (Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)
For Wallace, it is one of the more empathetic ways his NBA Hall of Famer NASCAR boss manages his top talent. On the other side, however, working for Jordan comes with a lot of verbal insults.
“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.”
During his NBA career, Jordan developed a reputation as one of the most belligerent and unfiltered trash talkers in the entire game, and it did not stop with opponents. Jordan had a reputation of absolutely verbally obliterating his own teammates.
In the famous ESPN docuseries “The Last Dance,” the former Bulls star and his teammates recounted stories of Jordan bullying his own younger teammates.
Jordan justified his treatment of these younger teammates in the series as a means to win.
“When people see this, they might say ‘well he wasn’t really a nice guy, he might have been a tyrant!’ Well that’s you, because you never won anything,” Jordan said in the docuseries. “I wanted to win, but I wanted them to win and be a part of that as well.”
WHY NASCAR STAR BUBBA WALLACE ISN’T MAKING POLITICAL STATEMENTS THIS YEAR AFTER BRASHING TRUMP IN 2020
Michael Jordan, left, talks with teammate Isiah Thomas during the NBA All Star Game played on Feb. 9, 1992 at the Orlando Arena in Orlando, Florida. (Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images)
One of Jordan’s other drivers has even said the NBA legend told him he was “terrible” at his sport.
Fellow 23XI driver Tyler Reddick said in an interview on Fox Sports’ “Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour,” in September that Jordan berated him while the team was at the Dayton 500 in 2023.
“He [Jordan] turned to me and said, ‘Man, you don’t have any room to talk. You’re terrible at speedway racing.’ He just kind of took a shot at me, and I wasn’t expecting it,” Reddick said. “When MJ calls you out about not being very good at it, it’s easy to find motivation to get better.”
Wallace, as a part of Jordan’s team that is trying to compete to win in the competitive landscape of NASCAR, has bought into that method. Jordan, as a former transcendent athlete, has offered personal and professional advice to Wallace, and they go out of their way to compare their respective situations to each other for strategic means.
However, Wallace questions Jordan’s actual knowledge of NASCAR as a sport.
“What it was like for him coming through the league, and try to compare similarities to what it’s like here. And then I just got to school him on his racing knowledge, because he thinks he knows a lot, but there’s a lot to be learned in this sport for sure,” Wallace said.
For Wallace, this relationship has not extended too far outside the racetrack, yet. Wallace says he has not even golfed with Jordan in the three years since they started working together.
Bubba Wallace, driver of the #23 23XI Racing McDonald’s Toyota, drives during the NASCAR Cup Series Grant Park 165 at the Chicago Street Circuit on July 7, 2024 in Chicago. (Ben Hsu/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
“We like to talk about racing,” Wallace said of his interactions with Jordan.
Wallace said he has not engaged in any competitive activity that includes stakes of any kind with the NBA legend.
Jordan had a reputation as a notorious gambler during and after his basketball career. It has even been reported through multiple accounts that Jordan would even bet with his teammates on the outcome of pre-recorded interactive races that were played on the jumbotron at the Bulls’ home arena during games.
Wallace does not seem to know anything about that side of his boss.
What Wallace does know is that Jordan is a great guy to talk about basketball with. When they are at the team facility, one NBA team gets priority in getting played on TV, that being Jordan’s Charlotte Hornets, a team he previously owned but sold in August 2023.
“With him being the owner for a while, the Hornets game was always playing at the racetrack,” Wallace said.
Jordan purchased the Charlotte-based franchise in 2010 for $275 million. Jordan made a healthy profit when he finally sold the team last year, in a $3 billion sale to a group led by Gabe Plotkin and Rick Schnall, and he even stayed on as a minority owner.
However, in 13 seasons under his leadership, the team went 423-600, made just three playoff appearances and did not win a single series. During the lockout-shortened 2011-12 season, the then-Bobcats went 7-59, which is the worst record in NBA history.
Now, 23XI racing is the biggest sports team Jordan owns in the U.S. The pressure is on Wallace to make sure it does not end up like the Hornets.
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Sports
Anthony Richardson free to seek trade after injury setbacks amid Colts’ shift to Daniel Jones
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Anthony Richardson Sr.’s future in Indianapolis faces more uncertainty than ever.
The Indianapolis Colts granted Anthony Richardson, the team that used the fourth overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft on the quarterback, permission to explore a trade. His agent, Deiric Jackson, confirmed the latest development in the 23-year-old’s tumultuous career to ESPN on Thursday.
Veteran quarterback Daniel Jones beat out Richardson in a preseason competition for the starting job. Jones made the most of another opportunity as an NFL starter, helping the Colts win eight of their first 10 games of the 2025 regular season.
Indianapolis Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson heads off the field after an NFL football game against the Denver Broncos on Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024 in Denver, Colorado. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
However, his season was ultimately derailed by an Achilles injury. The setback came two years after he tore an ACL with the New York Giants. The Colts appear ready to move forward with Jones, clouding Richardson’s future in Indianapolis.
Jones is set to become a free agent in March, meaning the Colts must either use the franchise tag or sign him to a new deal. Richardson has started just 15 games in three seasons with the Colts, his tenure largely shaped by injuries.
A shoulder surgery limited Richardson to four games during his rookie campaign, while a series of setbacks cost him four games in 2024.
Indianapolis Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson (5) looks for an open receiver during the game against the Houston Texans at NRG Stadium. (Troy Taormina/Imagn Images)
Richardson suffered what was described as a “freak pregame incident” during warmups last season, landing him on injured reserve after attempting just two passes in two games in 2025. He has thrown 11 touchdowns against 13 interceptions in his NFL career.
Colts general manager Chris Ballard said Tuesday that the vision problems stemming from Richardson’s orbital fracture last October are “trending in the right direction.” He added that Richardson has been “cleared to play.”
Indianapolis Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson (5) celebrates his touchdown against the New York Jets during the fourth quarter at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Brad Penner/Imagn Images)
Riley Leonard, a sixth-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, is expected to return to the Colts next season.
When asked about Richardson’s standing with the Colts moving ahead, Ballard replied, “I still believe in Anthony.”
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William Hudson, a 14-year-old freshman golfer, shot 71 on Monday at Western Hills Country Club in Chino Hills to win the Servite Invitational.
“It was very important to me and my school,” Hudson said.
Some think it’s the first time a St. John Bosco student won an invitational title.
Hudson is a straight-A student who picked up his first golf club when he was 3. He has a daily routine involving practicing at 6 a.m. before heading to school. He’s also enrolled in a school entrepreneur program that involves taking classes at a junior college that will qualify for college credits.
“They are long days, but I get through it,” Hudson said.
He comes from a family that enjoys golf. His great-grandfather played until his death at 98 last year.
“I love how it can take me to interesting places and meet interesting people,” Hudson said. “I can play for the rest of my life. It’s a lifelong sport.”
It’s looking like another strong year for golfers in Southern California, with several individual champions returning, including Jaden Soong of St. Francis and Grant Leary of Crespi.
Now Hudson has thrust himself into the conversation.
This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email eric.sondheimer@latimes.com.
Sports
Dashcam video shows former WWE executive Vince McMahon rear-ending vehicle on Connecticut highway
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Police have released new video showing former WWE Chairman Vince McMahon speeding before crashing his 2024 Bentley Continental GT into another luxury car on a Connecticut highway last summer.
McMahon appeared to be followed by a state trooper in Westport moments ahead of the eventual collision. McMahon’s vehicle reached speeds of more than 100 mph, state police said.
A trooper’s dashcam video showed McMahon accelerating and then braking too late to avoid rear-ending a BMW. The car McMahon was driving then swerved into a guardrail and careened back across the highway. A cloud of dirt, apparently mixed with vehicle debris, was visible in the immediate area of the crash.
WWE owner Vince McMahon enters the arena during WrestleMania at AT&T Stadium on Apr 3, 2022 in Arlington, Texas. (Joe Camporeale/USA Today Sports)
“Why were you driving all over 100 mph?” a state trooper asked McMahon after catching up to the wrecked Bentley.
“I got my granddaughter’s birthday,” McMahon replied, explaining he was on his way to see her. The encounter was recorded on police bodycam video.
No serious injuries were reported in the July 24 crash, which happened the same day former professional wrestler Hulk Hogan died of a heart attack in Florida.
In an image taken from Connecticut State Police police bodycam video, Vince McMahon is questioned in his car after an accident on July 24, 2025, in Westport, Connecticut. (Connecticut State Police via The Associated Press)
Aside from the damage to the rear of the BMW, another vehicle driving on the opposite side of the parkway was struck by flying debris. The driver of that third car happened to be wearing a WWE shirt, police video suggested.
McMahon was cited for reckless driving and following too closely. In October, a state judge allowed him to enter a pretrial probation program that could erase the charges if he completes it successfully.
He was also ordered to make a $1,000 charitable contribution. His attorney, Mark Sherman, called the crash simply an “accident.”
“Not every car accident is a crime,” Sherman said. “Vince’s primary concern during this case was for the other drivers and is appreciative that the court saw this more of an accident than a crime that needed to be prosecuted.”
Vince McMahon attends a press conference to announce that WWE Wrestlemania 29 will be held at MetLife Stadium in 2013 at MetLife Stadium on Feb. 16, 2012 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Michael N. Todaro/Getty Images)
State police said a trooper was trying to catch up to McMahon on the parkway and clock his speed before pulling him over. They said the incident was not a pursuit, which happens when police chase someone trying to flee officers. They also said it did not appear McMahon was trying to escape.
“I’m trying to catch up to you, and you keep taking off,” State Police Det. Maxwell Robins said in the video.
“No, no no. I’m not trying to outrun you,” McMahon clarified.
An accident information summary provided to the media shortly after the crash did not mention that a trooper was following McMahon.
The trooper’s bodycam video also shows him asking McMahon whether he was looking at his phone when the crash happened. McMahon said he was not and added he hadn’t driven his car in a long time.
After Robins tells McMahon that his car is fast, McMahon replies, “Yeah, too (expletive) fast.”
Fox News Digital submitted a public records request to obtain the police video, which was first acquired by The Sun.
McMahon stepped down as WWE’s CEO in 2022 amid a company investigation into sexual misconduct allegations. He also resigned as executive chairman of the board of directors of TKO Group Holdings, the parent company of WWE, in 2024, a day after a former WWE employee filed a sexual abuse lawsuit against him. McMahon has denied the allegations. The lawsuit remains pending.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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