Tyler Reddick won the 2026 Daytona 500, but this edition of The Great American Race will be remembered as the culmination of Michael Jordan’s transition from NBA owner to NASCAR team owner.

Jordan became a billionaire corporate CEO after his NBA career ended through his partnership with Nike and Jordan Brand. But his forays as an NBA executive initially with the Washington Wizards, and then for more than a decade as the owner of the Charlotte Hornets, did not lead to much success on the court. But over the past five years, Jordan has moved on from basketball and thrown himself into racing.

Like his rise to becoming arguably the NBA’s greatest player, Jordan has produced promising results, encountered unexpected roadblocks, and endured some rocky moments. A settlement in Jordan’s antitrust lawsuit against NASCAR was settled just a few months ago after Jordan had to take the witness stand as part of court proceedings.

Now, though, his 23XI Racing team won NASCAR’s premier event for the first time to begin the 2026 season and Jordan was there holding up one of racing’s biggest prizes and a little fired up celebrating another title, just in a completely different role and setting than the sports world was once accustomed to seeing him.

Here’s a look at Jordan’s history as an owner in the NBA and racing, as well as how he got involved with NASCAR and the drivers for 23XI Racing this season:

What does Michael Jordan own?

Jordan has been the co-owner of 23XI Racing along with Denny Hamlin for almost six years. It’s named after Jordan’s jersey number and the Roman numerals for Hamlin’s No. 11 car.

Jordan announced a partnership to start a NASCAR team with the greatest driver to never win a NASCAR Cup championship in September 2020 after they purchased a team charter from Germain Racing. 23XI Racing made its NASCAR Cup Series debut at the 2021 Daytona 500 with Toyota engines in its cars.

The team has progressively improved after an 11th-place finish to the 2021 season and finished fifth in the NASCAR team standings for the second year in a row in 2025. Sunday’s Daytona 500 victory by Reddick was the team’s 10th NASCAR Cup Series win since its inception. 23XI Racing has a technical partnership with Joe Gibbs Racing, who Hamlin still races for in his No. 11 car.

Jordan previously owned the NBA’s Charlotte Hornets. He initially bought a minority stake in the then-Charlotte Bobcats in 2006 and became the lead executive for basketball operations. Jordan eventually became the owner of the team in 2010. He sold the Hornets in 2023 at a $3 billion valuation after buying the majority stake at a $180 million valuation 13 years earlier. The franchise has never won an NBA playoff series and made the postseason just three times during Jordan’s time there.

Jordan also once owned Michael Jordan Motorsports, an AMA Superbike team, from 2003 to 2013.

How Michael Jordan got into NASCAR

‘Rockingham, Darlington, Talladega, Daytona, Richmond. We used to go on Sunday family trips: Load up our chicken and Cokes and go spend the day,’ Jordan recalled. ‘Drive up and drive back.’

Jordan’s relationship with Hamlin dates to 2006, when Jordan first bought into the Bobcats/Hornets. Hamlin was a Hornets season ticket holder and eventually developed a friendship with Jordan, who then signed Hamlin as a Jordan brand athlete. Hamlin and his former North Carolina basketball teammate Brad Daugherty, who is a longtime NASCAR owner, tried for years to convince Jordan to invest in NASCAR, according to ESPN.

Jordan said the presence of Black NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace, who jumped from Richard Petty Motorsports to 23XI Racing starting with its NASCAR debut in 2021, convinced him to become a NASCAR team owner.

‘When (Hamlin) told me there was a possibility of getting Bubba Wallace, I’m saying, ‘OK, this is perfect!’’ Jordan said to The Charlotte Observer in 2020. ‘If I’m getting involved in NASCAR, then get a Black driver (with) a Black owner.’

Michael Jordan NASCAR team: Who races for 23 XI Racing?

No. 23 Bubba Wallace
No. 35 Riley Herbst
No. 45 Tyler Reddick

On Tuesday, Euroleague’s Fenerbahçe Opet announced Stewart was returning to the club ahead of its playoff push in April. Stewart played for Fenerbahçe during the 2022-2023 season, helping the franchise win a EuroLeague Women championship. The New York Liberty forward also won Final Four MVP and made first-team All-EuroLeague the same season.

The 6-foot-4 forward has previously played in China and Russia. During multiple stints with various organizations, she won a 2019 EuroLeague women regular season MVP award, Final Four MVP (2021) and additional titles in the Russian Premier League (2021), EuroLeague (2021) and Turkish Super League (2023).

Stewart’s signing with Fenerbahçe comes amid an uncertain start date for the 2026 WNBA season as WNBA CBA negotiations continue. It also comes days after the veteran forward shared an encouraging update about the current negotiations with the league.

‘I’m feeling better,’ Stewart said on her podcast earlier this month. ‘I’m feeling like the owners are finally really acknowledging and being receptive of what we want and the players as well.’

Stewart’s signing could also signal a departure from her previous stance that Unrivaled, the 3-on-3 league she created with co-founder Napheesa Collier, would provide a domestic opportunity for WNBA players so they didn’t have to go overseas.’Because a lot of players probably my age and a little bit older are so accustomed to going overseas,’ Stewart told CBS News in 2025. ‘And now it’s like, no, you play WNBA. You come to Unrivaled, and we’re gonna take care of you. We’re gonna pay you. We’re gonna make sure you continue to build your brand.’

Stewart did share with her podcast host, Milwaukee Bucks center Myles Turner, that although she is hopeful CBA negotiations were progressing, she would keep moving forward.

‘We’re not done,’ Stewart said. ‘Hopefully, eventually, I’ll be able to be like, ‘Oh, my God, Myles. It’s finished. It’s over.’ It’s going to be incredible, but until then, we just keep trucking along.’

MILAN — A plastic surgeon renowned for penis-enlarging procedures, including the injection of hyaluronic acid, says he provided the service last month to a ski jumper.

The assertion comes with the ski jumping competition at the 2026 Winter Olympics under an unusual spotlight.

Reports from a German media outlet prompted speculation that ski jumpers are getting genital-enlarging injections to increase the surface area of their suits, which would increase the distance of their jumps. The International Ski and Snowboard Federation called it ‘wild rumor.’ And the World Anti-Doping Agency said it would investigate to see if there is any evidence to back up the claim and whether it constitutes doping.

‘Regarding the news in question, I did in fact treat an athlete from that sport, whose name and nationality I will obviously not disclose, nor whether he is participating in these Olympics,’ Alessandro Littara told USA TODAY Sports in an email. ‘However, I can say that I treated him last month and used a generous dose of hyaluronic acid.’

Littara said the ski jumper told him he was wanting the procedure to avoid embarrassment in the changing room after competition.

‘I cannot say whether he told me the whole truth,’ Littara said, ‘but in any case, we did a good job and implanted a more than generous dose of hyaluronic acid.’

He also added, ‘The result is immediate, so the athlete could wear the new suit after just a few minutes.’

Who is the plastic surgeon?

Littara told USA TODAY Sports he has performed more than 3,000 penis-enlarging procedures involving hyaluronic acid.

‘So I have some experience in this field,’ he wrote.

According to a German-based group called UGRS Darmstadt – Center for Penile Surgery, Littara is “probably the leading doctor in Europe in terms of experience, surgical figures and scientific work and publications on the subject of surgical penis enlargement…’

Littara graduated in Medicine and Surgery from the University of Pisa and was a professor of Urogenital Reconstructive Surgery at the school, according to his LinkedIn page. The UGRS Darmstadt–Center for Penile Surgery also refers online to Littara as a professor. Littara now has a private practice, according to his website.

Littara provided copies of his degrees and medical certifications to USA TODAY Sports.

How it would work

The topic of ski jumpers getting penis-enlarging injections surfaced publicly when a German newspaper published a story before the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympics.

Bruno Sassi, communications director of the International Ski and Snowboard Federation, wrote in an email sent to USA TODAY Sports, ‘As for the hyaluronic acid claims: this wild rumor started off a few weeks ago from pure hearsay. There has never been any indication, let alone evidence, that any competitor has ever made use of a hyaluronic acid injection to attempt to gain a competitive advantage.’

But whether the  procedure could aid a ski jumper is another matter.

What is universally accepted: the larger the ski jumper’s suit, which conforms to the athlete’s body, the farther the ski jumper potentially can jump. And the groin area of the suit is particularly important.

Wrote Litarra, the plastic surgeon, ‘I must say that, technically, it could be possible.’

Christopher Roy, a professor and aerodynamics expert at Virgina Tech, also told USA TODAY Sports he thinks it could work.

‘In ski jumping, basically the main goal is maximize your lift while minimizing your drag,’ Roy said. ‘And if you can do that, that just equates to going farther.’

Roy also cited a scandal at the Nordic World Ski Championships in March involving the manipulation of ski jumper’s suit sizes.

Ski jumping cheaters, beware

Bruno Sassi, Communications Director of the International Ski and Snowboard Federation, said 3D technology is used as a deterrent against rule breaking.

‘The main goal is to identify and/or prevent possible manipulations or violations of equipment rules – notably, the intentional lowering of the crotch measurement to gain advantage over opponents,’ Sassi wrote in an email sent to USA TODAY Sports. 

At the Olympics, according to Sassi, there will testing. He cited the following:

Before the event, every suit has undergone a technical approval, i.e. a check to ensure that they’re compliant (and to give teams the ability to adapt if necessary). Each athlete is entitled to two suits for the Olympics.

Every suit is microchipped, so controllers know exactly which suits they are inspecting after each jump. ⁠Before each jump, the competitor’s suit is scanned to confirm that it’s an approved suit.

There are no body scans being conducted at the Olympics: this was a one-time procedure at the start of the season to set a baseline of each athlete’s measurements.

‘Equipment control is a vital component of Ski Jumping, ensuring safety and fairness for the discipline,’ Sassi wrote. ‘An integral part of this procedure is the process of collecting athletes’ body measurements data prior to events so that, during competitions, these measurements may be compared with the size of the jumping suits and other pieces of equipment.’

Team USA finds humor in attention, denies injections

The three ski jumpers on the United States men’s Olympic team were adamant they’re not getting injections to alter their suit size. But, they didn’t rule out competitors getting the injections.

‘It is difficult to say if it’s something that has been done or if people are doing,’ said Jason Colby, a 19-year-old based in Steamboat Springs, Colorado who will be competing in his first Olympics. ‘And I guess that, scientifically speaking, it could work. But who knows what other teams are doing behind closed doors.’

Plastic surgeon sheds more light

Hyaluronic acid is not used strictly for penile-enlargement injections. The gel-like dermal filler also is used to smooth out wrinkles and lines on the face.

Litarra wrote the procedure must be repeated for the enlarged penis to maintain its size.

‘…the ski jumper certainly needs to maintain the desired volume, so the (procedure) will need to be repeated,’ Littara explained. ‘How often depends on individual characteristics, but realistically at least three times a year.’

Also, Littara noted the impact of the procedures varies. Specifically addressing if the enlargement would aid ski jumpers, Littara wrote, “Obviously, it depends a lot on the amount of filler implanted. Usually, at least 20 (milliliters) of hyaluronic acid is implanted, but the amount can be customised according to individual needs.’

Bill Belichick to Mike Norvell, expect another active college football hot seat in 2026, even after busy year of firings.
Dave Aranda, Luke Fickell near top of hot seat list.
LaNorris Sellers, DJ Lagway are the type of quarterbacks who can get a coach off the hot seat.

Any college football coaches left to fire? Oh, yes.

It’s quiet now, but give it seven months, and fan bases across the land will be hollering for the brass to, ‘Fire everybody!’

Last season delivered one of the most active coaching carousels in the sport’s history. Buyout beach must have run out of loungers, as schools from LSU to Florida to Penn State forked over failure money.

Probably, the coaching carousel won’t be quite so active this season. Probably. And, still, several coaches will enter the 2026 season standing on the precipice of buyout utopia.

As we sit in the calm before the next storm of firings, here are five college football hot seats I can’t stop thinking about:

Bill Belichick, North Carolina

What was the first sign this might be a disaster? Was it when Belichick showed up to an offseason interview wearing a ratty Navy sweatshirt? Or, maybe it was Belichick ducking out during North Carolina’s open week for a trip to Nantucket with his muse, 24-year-old girlfriend Jordon Hudson.

Or, let’s just stick to the on-field product. TCU’s 48-14 humiliation of the Tar Heels in Belichick’s first game gave a strong hint of how his debut season would go.

North Carolina hired Belichick to a five-year deal, but it left an escape hatch in the contract. He’d be owed about $10 million if fired after this season. That’s relatively small potatoes in an otherwise exorbitant buyout landscape.

Belichick signed a large recruiting class that ranked well within the ACC, but UNC had a quieter year in the portal. Should Beli really be playing the long game with freshmen?

Luke Fickell, Wisconsin

Wisconsin should not be 37 points worse than Iowa. Seventeen points worse than Maryland. Ten points worse than Minnesota.

When Wisconsin kept Fickell after a 4-8 record in his third season, the worst year of his tenure, it played the poor card and said it hadn’t properly supported Fickell with enough financial resources. Evidently, it thought that sounded better than, “We’re keeping him to fire him next season, when his buyout is cheaper.”

This whole situation reeks of Fickell being a lame duck.

Nothing about Wisconsin’s latest transfer haul or its recruiting class suggests anything resembling momentum. Prep the buyout cannon.

Dave Aranda, Baylor

NIL and pay-for-play are a boon for most schools in Texas, the nation’s No. 1 oil-producing state. Texas Tech strolled across an oil slick all the way to a Big 12 championship and a playoff bid. Texas A&M also notched its first playoff appearance. Texas underachieved in 2025, but the Longhorns are built to last. And then there’s Baylor.

The Big 12 has room for a third team to rise up and join Texas Tech and BYU to form a power triumvirate. Why shouldn’t it be Baylor? Seriously, Baylor’s administration must ask that question as it evaluates Aranda’s 36-37 record across six seasons. He’s made the hot seat his home for a few years. His teams are plagued by bad defenses. Wasn’t defense supposed to be Aranda’s forte?

Baylor brought in a solid transfer class that includes ex-Florida quarterback DJ Lagway. If Aranda can’t get the Bears into Big 12 contention this season, then Baylor must move on and try with someone else.

Shane Beamer, South Carolina

South Carolina possesses one of the SEC’s most-talented quarterbacks in LaNorris Sellers. If Beamer can’t win with him, that’s a problem — a problem that could spark a coaching search, on the heels of last year’s 4-8 season.

Beamer has delivered three winning seasons in five years at South Carolina. That makes him better than most predecessors not named Steve Spurrier. Trouble is, Beamer posted his best season in Year 4, followed by his worst year last season. That’s a classic case of raising the bar, then failing to meet it, and that’s a recipe for a firing.

Beamer is responsible for multiple big wins, but consistency eludes him.

The Gamecocks return ample production, and Beamer brought in Kendal Briles as his offensive coordinator. If this assembly doesn’t work, there’ll be no excuse that can save Beamer.

Mike Norvell, Florida State

Norvell twice prolonged his tenure by getting a vote of confidence from his boss, first in 2021 and then again from a different boss last season. Coaches generally don’t get a third vote of confidence. They get a buyout check.

Norvell’s whopper buyout bought him cover the past two seasons. The buyout is still quite large — well over $40 million — but Florida State isn’t the type of program that’s going to quietly stomach a third straight losing season.

With Clemson down, the Seminoles are wasting a golden opportunity to rise up, backpedaling with Norvell while Miami fills the power vacuum. That’s how a Florida State coach gets fired.

More heat: No hot seat list would be complete without mention of Mike Locksley (Maryland), Bill O’Brien (Boston College) and Derek Mason (Middle Tennessee). Other big names at major programs could find themselves on the hot seat if 2026 goes splat. You can probably guess some of those names. We’re not quite ready to go there.

Hey, it’s only February. The buyout cannon needs a chance to refuel.

Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network’s senior national college football columnist. Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on X @btoppmeyer.

Balance and control are important in any sport, but they’re especially crucial at the highest levels, such as at the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympics.

In the Winter Games, athletes often must be able to display the same skills while going forward and backward. In figure skating, ice hockey and snowboarding, for example.

But there have been times during these Olympics when athletes have gone out of control and turned completely around when they weren’t supposed to. And the moments have been magical.

In men’s dual moguls on Sunday, Feb. 15, Japanese freestyle skier Ikuma Horishima nearly lost it on the final jump, but somehow remained upright to cross the finish line … backwards.

Horishima went on to claim the silver medal in dual moguls.

And in short track speed skating, Italy’s Pietro Sighel − who had a big enough lead in an earlier heat that he turned around and crossed the finish line backward − had to do it again out of necessity in his 500 meter heat Monday when he was bumped as two skaters collided.

Sighel nearly won the race, but made it across the finish line to advance.

Unexpected surprises like these definitely have us looking forward to more as the Winter Games conclude.

Christian Pulisic took advantage of the 2026 Winter Olympics taking place in his home city, as the AC Milan star was in attendance for the USA’s 5-1 win over Germany in men’s hockey on Sunday, Feb. 15.

Pulisic was in the stands at Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena as the USA earned a bye into Wednesday’s quarterfinals with a dominant win.

The U.S. men’s national team forward returned from a brief injury lay-off on Friday, Feb. 13, coming off the bench as Milan defeated Pisa 2-1 to maintain its Serie A title challenge.

Pulisic made it back to Milan in time to catch the USA in action, taking time to give an interview to the NHL’s in-house media channel along the way.

The USMNT star estimated he’d been to ‘less than 10, 15’ hockey games in his life, most of which were the minor league Hershey Bears in his Pennsylvania hometown.

Pulisic said that having the Olympics in Milan was providing him with extra motivation with the World Cup coming to the United States this summer.

‘Just seeing some of these guys doing what they’re doing, competing at the highest level in their sport, supporting team USA, it definitely gives me that extra drive and gets me excited for the summer,’ he said.

Pulisic also spoke about the difference between playing in high-pressure competitions for AC Milan and the USMNT.

‘There’s always pressure in some of the biggest competitions, whether club or country. But I think when you play for your country, you always have that little extra sense of pride representing team USA,’ he said.

‘It’s the best thing you can do. It’s the most proud I am when I’m playing. So it’s similar, but definitely something special when you play for your country.’

Wisconsin-Green Bay men’s basketball coach Doug Gottlieb had some harsh words for the officials after a 75-72 loss to in-state rival Wiscosnin-Milwaukee on Sunday, Feb. 15. And the tirade he unleashed rivaled any hot take he ever had on his former national radio show.

The Phoenix had the lead for most of a foul-plagued second half, but Gottlieb was particularly upset by a loose-ball foul called on his team’s best player, CJ O’Hara, with 4:25 to go. The foul, with the Phoenix up by four, was O’Hara’s fourth and Gottlieb felt it changed the course of the game.

After getting called for a technical foul earlier in the half, Gottlieb was further incensed when no foul was called as his player drove for a potential game-winning shot in the final seconds.

‘You had the exact same play at both ends on the last play of the game,’ Gottlieb said to reporters, pausing momtarily before aggressively slamming his fists onto the table.

‘The exact same (expletive) play!’ he yelled, ‘The exact same play!’

He also took issue with the technical foul, which came with just under seven minutes to play.

‘So I need the new commissioner of the Horizon League to explain to me what a technical foul is when I don’t leave the box, I don’t curse, I’m not demonstrative,’ he said. ‘There is nothing, nothing, that should have been called a technical foul. I know when I earn one. I did not earn one.’

Milwaukee converted 22 of 24 free throw attempts during the second half of the game − despite being one of the worst-shooting teams from the line coming in at just 68.5% on the season.

The loss dropped UWGB to 15-13 overall and a tie for third in the conference at 10-7.

‘All we ask is that there’s a fair game,’ Gottlieb continued. ‘I need … our new commissioner to explain to me the disparity in the officiating. That’s what I need explained to me.’