Bubba Wallace made history on Monday afternoon as he won a rain-shortened race at Talladega Superspeedway to capture his first win in the NASCAR Cup Series. While Wallace has won in the truck series before, his Cup Series win was historic as he was the first black driver to accomplish a win at the highest level of NASCAR, since Wendell Scott back in 1963.
What also makes his win significant is that it was the first victory for 23XI Racing which is a venture between Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan. Anything attached to MJ is going to have high expectations, and after the big win, MJ made sure to let his voice be heard as he congratulated the driver on the massive win.
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“I’m so happy for Bubba and our entire 23XI Racing team. This is a huge milestone and a historic win for us,” Jordan said in a statement. “From the day we signed him, I knew Bubba had the talent to win and Denny and I could not be more proud of him. Let’s go!”
What was also significant about the win is the fact that McDonald’s has been cursed as a NASCAR sponsor. A car with McDonald’s on the hood hadn’t won a race since the early 90s, although that all changed with Bubba’s victory. Needless to say, this week was a big one for the sport of NASCAR, and 23XI can only improve from here on out.