NASCAR Daytona 500 winner scores 'biggest win' of career
Champion Ricky Stenhouse Jr. says he and his team’s offseason efforts contributed to the win during the longest-ever Daytona 500.
Brad Daugherty was a star center for the Cleveland Cavaliers who helped lead the team to the playoffs five times way before the LeBron James era ever kicked off for the franchise.
Four of those five playoff appearances ended with losses to Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls, including the famous shot where Jordan hit the buzzer-beater over Craig Ehlo.
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Former Cavalier Brad Daugherty waves to the fans before the game against the Indiana Pacers on October 26, 2019, at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. (David Liam Kyle/NBAE via Getty Images)
On Sunday, Daugherty finally got to hold one over on Jordan but it came on the racetrack.
Daugherty is the co-owner of JTG Daugherty Racing Team, which ran the car Ricky Stenhouse Jr. drove to Victory Lane on Sunday night when he finished in first place at the Daytona 500. The five-time NBA All-Star became the first Black principal owner of a race team to win the Daytona 500.
Michael Jordan of Chicago, working his way around Brad Daugherty, heads toward the basket at the Coliseum. (Getty Images)
NBA Hall of Famer Michael Jordan and co-owner of 23XI Racing looks on from the 23XI Racing pit box during the NASCAR Cup Series Go Bowling at The Glen at Watkins Glen International on Aug. 8, 2021, in Watkins Glen, New York. (Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)
Jordan, who is the co-owner of 23XI Racing with Denny Hamlin, has yet to win "The Great American Race."
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"I talked to him for a few minutes," JTG Daugherty part-owner Jodi Geschickter said after Stenhouse’s win on Sunday night, via the Charlotte Observer. "He said that he and Michael Jordan are already talking trash."
Geschickter also made history with the win. She became the second female owner to win a Daytona 500 after Teresa Earnhardt.
Michael Jordan, co-owner of 23xi racing, watches the action on pit road during qualifying for the 2nd annual Ally 400 on June 25, 2022, at Nashville SuperSpeedway in Tennessee. (Jeff Robinson/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
"It was more about the team and more about my partnership with my husband, and doing this project with him," she added. "He’s always been a huge supporter of me, and we’re a great support system for each other."
Daugherty has been in racing ownership since the late 1980s, having teams in the Late Model Series, Xfinity Series and Truck Series before joining JTG Motorsports.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr., driver of the #47 Kroger/Cottonelle Chevrolet, celebrates with his crew after winning the NASCAR Cup Series 65th Annual Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on Feb. 19, 2023. (Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
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JTG Daugherty debuted its first NASCAR Cup Series vehicle at the 2008 Brickyard 400. It made its official debut in what’s now known as the Xfinity Series in 1996.