What it’s like under Michael Jordan’s watch in the heat of a NASCAR race

Many of those who played alongside Michael Jordan in the NBA have described him as someone who would test a teammate’s mental toughness to come through in key moments. Some failed to meet this high standard. But for those that earned Jordan’s trust, he had little hesitation passing them the ball with the game on the line, believing they’d knock down the shot.

Billy Scott jokes that while he may be tall, he’ll never be confused for a basketball player. Nonetheless, the crew chief for NASCAR championship finalist Tyler Reddick — who drives for 23XI Racing, the team Jordan co-owns — has the full trust of his boss to hit a clutch shot should they find themselves on the basketball court. He’s passed Jordan’s enervating test, something conveyed to him with the highest praise from someone whose career is defined by being clutch.

“He said he’s willing to pass me the ball if time is running down, that he believes in me,” Scott said. “Hearing that is what gives you the confidence to keep believing in what we’re doing.”

Similar to the iron-will drive that was the hallmark of Jordan’s career on the hardwood, a characteristic that has defined the march by the No. 45 team to Sunday’s Championship 4 finale at Phoenix Raceway is grit. Reddick persevered through a stomach bug to clinch the regular-season points title; the team overcame crash damage in a playoff Round 2 elimination race that required Reddick to drive through the field to finish high enough to advance; and a combination of Scott’s sage pit strategy, a bit of luck and Reddick’s skill propelled them to an incredible win in a semifinal-round race that secured a spot in the championship.

Each time the No. 45 team needed to come up big in the playoffs, they have.

Jordan attended each of these races, watching all these moments up close either perched atop the No. 45 team’s pit box with Scott or in the pit stall alongside the crew.

Having a person of Jordan’s stature, let alone someone whose competitive zeal is legendary, observing your every move and being expected to execute at a high level, could be unnerving. Not so, the No. 45 team says.

“When he’s there, everybody has another pep in their step, more confidence. Like, ‘Yeah, this is our guy and he’s on our side,’” Scott said. “Because he really is integrated into it, he understands it. He studies the sport. I think he knows what’s going on with strategy and tires and aero packages. He understands that stuff as well as a lot of us do at times.

“He knows the appropriate time to say stuff in certain situations.”

When Jordan partnered with Denny Hamlin four years ago to form 23XI it was natural to wonder just how active he’d be in running the team. It’s common for celebrities to own a piece of a team but have little actual involvement.

For Jordan, though, 23XI has been no vanity project. And since he sold his majority stake in the NBA’s Charlotte Hornets last summer, his involvement with 23XI has only increased.

The additional free time allows Jordan to attend more races, where he engages Scott by asking questions about key strategy decisions.

“He has great insight and asks great questions, and it’s never out of place or unwarranted,” Scott said. “It’s all stuff that kind of even helps us think about things.”

Jordan is also a regular participant in 23XI’s weekly competition meeting. He’ll often say little, preferring to listen and only speaking up when he feels like he has something to contribute.

Maybe the most important instance occurred last summer. At the time, both Reddick and fellow 23XI driver Bubba Wallace were in a slump, neither having finished in the top 10 in any of the past five races. Frustration was high. Excuses thrown around. Fingers pointed. Then the six-time NBA champion spoke.

“He listened to it and listened to it, and at the end, he gave his opinion on what he heard,” Hamlin said. “And he didn’t like what he heard, and he gave some pointed remarks on what championship teams sound like and what winning teams sound like and how we need to change the way we are communicating and the way we are shifting blame all over the place.

“That was kind of a pivotal moment for our team and our drivers to hear and taking responsibility for each person’s shortcomings and how you are going to get better. That was a big moment in shifting our team’s mentality.”

Dave Rogers, 23XI’s senior director of competition, nods emphatically when asked about the meeting. It resonates still, he says, a key block in building 23XI into a team capable of winning a Cup title.

“He emphasizes doing what you need to do to make sure you’re performing at your highest level and taking that game-winning shot,” Rogers said. “And if you make it, great. And if you don’t, move on. He’s all about supporting your teammates when they take that game-winning shot and don’t make it. He’s all about teamwork.”

Both Reddick and Wallace recovered, each going on to qualify for the playoffs. Reddick finished the year with nine top-10s and a win in the final 17 races and made it to the semifinal round. This year, the ascent has continued. Reddick won the regular-season points title and earned 23XI’s first-ever berth in the Championship 4, a remarkable accomplishment for a team in only its fourth year of existence. And though Wallace missed the playoffs, he has set career highs in several statistical categories.

“It’s really cool to be able to share the highs, for sure,” Reddick said. “It boils down to the passion that people like him, myself, Billy and other people that are part of 23XI have for racing and having that desire to perform at that level. So when all that comes together and you have those great moments, it’s awesome to share it with like-minded people like that.”

Wade Moore, the tire carrier on Reddick’s pit crew, played college baseball at North Carolina State and was drafted by the Washington Nationals, playing a few years in their minor-league system. This experience, he says, has helped him adapt to a pressurized environment where he and others on the crew, many of whom also played college sports at a high level, must work under Jordan’s piercing glare as they attempt to knock out a nine-second pit stop.

“How can you not get excited doing a pit stop in front of MJ?” Moore said. “It’s awesome. He’s so invested emotionally, and that means a lot to us as athletes. To see him and see the emotion on his face, the excitement, the disappointment, it’s all part of the human element of what we do. So he rides that roller coaster, too.”

It’s a bond atypical of most owner-pit crew relationships. In many respects, Jordan is an entrenched member of the team.

“It’s obvious in the way he greets you, just in the handshake,” Moore said. “Because there’s a difference in that corporate handshake, and then the athlete handshake. He gets it. He’ll be the first one when we rip off a good stop to come fist bump us or give us congratulations. But then, obviously, you’re going to miss shots, too. And when we do, he picks us up and doesn’t come down on anybody. He’s just very encouraging.”

On Sunday, Jordan will be at Phoenix Raceway watching the championship finale, likely either sitting behind Scott on top of the pit box or down below with the pit crew, an unmistakable presence alongside a No. 45 team that is accustomed to one of the world’s most iconic athletes intently observing every move.

“You’ve got one of the greatest competitors that has this perspective on everything that is 100 percent accurate,” Scott said. “And he’s on your side, in your corner, where if you need something, he’s right there. He’s living it with you. There’s some value in that. That no matter how it turns out at the end of the day, he’s experienced it. He’s got the same emotions, high and low. It just makes it feel that much more of a united team.”

(Top illustration: Meech Robinson / The Athletic; photos: Sean Gardner / Getty Images, Logan Riely / Getty Images)