NASCAR: Brad Daugherty Beats Michael Jordan as First Black Racing Team Owner to Win DAYTONA 500
Brad Daugherty, pictured here in January 2019. Chuck Burton/AP
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (FNN SPORTS) – While Michael Jordan made Black History in 2020 as one of very few African American racing team co-owners in NASCAR, a different African American NBA player-turned racing team owner beat Jordan to win his first DAYTONA 500 on Sunday: Brad Daugherty.
“I talked to him for a few minutes and he said that he and Michael Jordan are already talking trash,” said fellow JTG Daugherty co-owner Jodi Geschickter during the post-race press conference. “I’m not sure what was said, but there have been conversations.”
Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who drove for the JTG Daugherty Racing team, won what the Daytona International Speedway calls “the longest DAYTONA 500” Sunday night after the race went into double overtime. His DAYTONA 500 win was his third overall win in a 14-season career.
Daniel Suarez’s crash in the final regulation lap of the race moved it into overtime and seemed to be a catalyst for even more cautions, stretching the race on for another whopping 12 laps.
According to NASCAR, JTG Daugherty Racing is the first single-car team to win the Daytona 500 since The Wood Brothers Racing did it with Trevor Bayne in 2011.
This year’s race made quadruple history: The first single-car team to win the 500 since 2011, the first woman-owned team to win the DAYTONA 500 (with fellow JTG Daugherty co-owner Jodi Geschickter), this year’s race was the longest in 500 history, and the first Black-owned team, which snatched victory from the hands of Joey Logano, who was initially signaled as the winner on Daytona International Speedway’s pole when the race finally ended–even Google’s live stats showed Logano in first and Stenhouse in second. The race was officially called for Stenhouse, though, and, to his credit, he held the lead in the race throughout each treacherous caution after the Suarez crash.
NASCAR Diversity is Priority
Bethune-Cookman University’s pre-race announcement of its partnership with NASCAR to launch CampusLAB, a school-to-work pipeline program in order to create employment opportunities in NASCAR for students interested in working in the auto racing industry. NASCAR also presented a $100,000 check to Bethune-Cookman University at the end of the press conference.
FNN News asked the JTG Daugherty Racing crew their thoughts on the program announcement and how the focus on diversity will impact NASCAR. “America doesn’t just look like the people in the garage have looked like for 55 years,” replied Tad Geschickter, who co-owns JTG Daugherty Racing with his wife, Jodi Geschickter, and Daugherty. “It’s diverse and everyone has different points of view and different talents and treasures.
“Brad certainly adds a different element to what we do and different thinking and a different background, and I think it’s the same from engineering to tire changers to drivers. It’s sorely needed.”
As the crew’s press conference wrapped, a representative from Kroger Supermarkets reiterated the diversity point, noting that Kroger, “the largest supermarket chain in the U.S.” with 2500 stores nationwide, “loves diversity.”
Stenhouse himself said: “We’ve got a lot of diversity on our race team throughout the garage, and it’s cool to have two on our race team and put them in Victory Lane here at the Daytona 500.”
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Mellissa Thomas is Editor for Florida National News. | mellissa.thomas@floridanationalnews.com