NASCAR revs ahead with new teams, new tracks, new energy

Michael Jordan took his own vice and just did it: Air Jordan formed his own NASCAR team and expects foundation will be in place to build a stock car Dream Team centered around Bubba Wallace.

Jordan has some company on celebrity starting grid: Pitbull bought his own piece of a NASCAR team and “Mr. Worldwide” could have fans -- up to 30,000 of m at Daytona 500 -- shouting “Dale!” at next week’s season opener.

“re’s no better time to be involved in NASCAR,” said Pitbull, who was attracted to sport by 1990 movie “Days of Thunder” and is now partnered with new team Trackhouse Racing, which along with Mexican driver Daniel Suarez provides a platform to reach a broer audience.

“In same way that music is a universal language, I also see NASCAR as a universal language," Pitbull ded. “Everybody loves a fast car and a great story.”

fan favorites extend well beyond owner’s box. Chase Elliott, NASCAR’s most popular driver, is reigning champion and three-time Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin -- who helped usher MJ into sport -- has kids asking about his PJs in a national commercial tagline he can't shake.

schedule underwent an overdue overhaul and now has a whopping seven ro courses and five new venues. NASCAR is even set for an off-ro detour through dirt at fan-favorite Bristol Motor Speedway.

Perhaps in any or season, NASCAR could raise a glass to what its brocast partner is billing as “ Best Season Ever.” But promising “best" anything in a pandemic seems as outlandish as a 62-year-old driver — 1990 winner Derrike Cope — in Daytona 500.

Yet here we are.

While NASCAR can hope racial reckoning from last season that led to its Confederate flag ban have eased, concerns that it can reach season finale without interruptions to schedule and drivers falling ill still linger.

NASCAR last year navigated pandemic by first filling free time with nationally televised iRacing and found a way to become one of first major sports to resume competition in May. It was first sport to complete its full schedule but got to November only by moving races, running without spectators or limited spectators, and trusting participants to monitor ir own health.

At least four drivers tested positive for COVID-19 during 2020 season, with Jimmie Johnson, Austin Dillon and Truck Series driver Spencer Davis missing races.

NASCAR again won't test competitors in 2021 but plans on having rapid tests at tracks when needed. bubble has been widened this season to allow a team owner into garage for first time since last March and NASCAR acknowledged it must be “nimble” with its schedule. second race of season scheduled in Fontana, California, has alrey been moved to ro course at Daytona because of pandemic restrictions.

NASCAR executive vice president Steve O’Donnell touted momentum from a successful 2020 season but acknowledged pandemic has challenged NASCAR going into 2021.

“I think all of us hoped by this time we’d have full grandstands and be rey to rock and roll for 500. That's not case,” he said.

Daytona International Speedway can hold more than 100,000 in grandstands and thousands more in infield, but speedway will be limited to roughly 30,000 spectators for Feb. 14 season-opener.

Hamlin is seeking to become first driver to win three consecutive Daytona 500s while also transitioning into team ownership. He still drives for Joe Gibbs Racing but has partnered with Jordan to create 23XI Racing (pronounced twenty-three eleven) and field a car for Wallace, only Black full-time driver at NASCAR's top level.

Wallace h a tumultuous 2020 as he became NASCAR's face for racial justice and change. He successfully pushed NASCAR to ban Confederate flag at its events and with it came a wave of backlash from tritional fans. Wallace weared it as best as he could — even when NASCAR brought in FBI to investigate a garage door pull in his stall at Tallega that h been fashioned into a noose months earlier — and it ultimately led to a millions in new sponsorship dollars that gave Wallace funding to help get 23XI Racing off ground.

He and Jordan become only Black team owner and driver combination in sport and pairing puts Wallace in a glaring spotlight. Winless in 112 Cup races driving for underfunded Richard Petty Motorsports, Wallace knows it is time to deliver.

Wallace is seeking a balance in trying to be successful with a high-profile team while also using his platform to push for diversity. If he can do it all with fewer heaches, he'd be thrilled.

“I lost 7 pounds through everything that happened last year. So much stress and pressure, Lord,” Wallace said. “I have a goal every year to not be a part of helines. Every year I have that goal. And I've failed every year.”

23XI with Jordan and Trackhouse with Pitbull are two of three new teams entering Cup Series this year in anticipation of a new car in 2022 that will make NASCAR more affordable for owners.

Kyle Larson returns after a nearly full-season suspension for using a racial slur and he will drive for Hendrick Motorsports, which in November celebrated its 13th NASCAR championship with Elliott's win. Larson and Elliott are two of most dynamic young drivers in series and hope to fill a void created by a rash of retirements, most recent seven-time champion Johnson.

New teams, new tracks, young drivers and an abundance of optimism has led brocast partner Fox to market 2021 NASCAR campaign as “ best season ever.” That remains to be seen starting with Daytona 500 and ending with Nov. 7 finale at Phoenix.

"I can’t remember, at least not as season that I’ve been a driver in Cup, this amount of changes ever happening before, and I think it’s a nice little shot in arm,” NASCAR veteran Br Keselowski said. "As far as best season ever, I don’t think I’m right person to judge, but I don’t know how you could argue that it’s not mostly good stuff happening.”

Image credits: AP