On the heels of his second NBA Championship, Michael Jordan still felt like he had something to prove to the basketball world, at which he sat atop.

While the eventual six-time champion has positioned himself among the sport’s elite, he was on a mission to do something the league hadn’t seen in over two decades: win three in a row. When the time came one year later, Jordan lived up to the moment, defeating the Phoenix Suns in six games and leaving his mark on the league.

Maybe that’s why it seems so fitting that a driver for Jordan’s 23XI racing team became the first driver in the history of NASCAR to sweep the first three races of a season. And as Tyler Reddick climbed out of his machine, Jordan was one of the first to congratulate him with a post he’s all too familiar with, holding up three fingers.

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Reddick was nearly perfect on Sunday, elevating to the level of Jordan in the finals as he held off Ryan Blaney and road course ringer Shane Van Gisbergen to leave his first mark on the sport.

Chasing history by 3.5 seconds

Reddick’s mission to three-peat was not the only opportunity for a driver to write their name in the halls of NASCAR this weekend. SVG was racing in hopes of winning his sixth straight road course race, which would have tied Jeff Gordon’s record. While Van Gisbergen came up short, his effort at Circuit of the Americas was incredible.

Despite a 13th-place qualifying effort, SVG drove his #97 through the field with relative ease several times. That’s not to say his car was great; in fact, this was probably the worst car Trackhouse has given SVG at a road course since he went full-time. Yet the lack of grip didn’t matter as he muscled his way to a second-place finish in pure willpower. 

The Kiwi’s road course racing abilities have been made to seem otherworldly, but today proved he was human and that should excite every motorsport fan as we get into this season.

The only Grand Prix

Not to get too deep in my unc bag, but I remember a time when NASCAR at COTA seemed like a pipe dream. If only NASCAR could get to a track built for F1, wouldn’t that be wonderful?

As it turns out, yes, it would. With the revised layout, the track has hit its stride, providing the intense road racing that only NASCAR provides. Seriously, I’ll never get tired of two cars battling for position, bouncing off each other through the esses. 

It’s not only exciting, but shows stock cars belonging to these prestigious tracks. While NASCAR has its crown jewels, COTA is known worldwide and brought people from 10 other countries to see 40 or so stock cars battle it out. It’s what the sport needs, and I hope COTA never leaves the schedule.

Long live points racing

Before the race started, FOX played a clip from Michael McDowell’s radio with the usual pre-race saying, but one caught my eye.

“Let’s get some points today,” McDowell said to his team.

It’s simple, but a year ago, I’d bet the farm he would have said win the race. Now that’s not to say he doesn’t want to win the race, but it goes to show that teams are adjusting to the revived Chase format, and it’s beautiful.

From teams staying out during the end of stages to Myatt Snider coming off the pit box to finish the race for Alex Bowman, crew chiefs are doing everything they can to maximize every point. It’s a mindset that has been sorely lacking from early-season Cup series races and kept my intrigue way up.

For now, the field will have to focus on stopping Reddick’s run and stopping Jordan from holding up four fingers at Phoenix Raceway next weekend.