Michael Jordan was willing to 'get kicked out of the sport' to change NASCAR with lawsuit

Over the past few months, Michael Jordan and 23XI Racing have taken NASCAR leadership to trial, secured a settlement that changed the way the pay structure for race teams (through the Charter system), and that's before we even get to what's been happening on the track.

Tyler Reddick has won four of the first races races of the 2026 season for the team co-owned by Jordan and Denny Hamlin, and they are currently running away with the points lead. Reddick's early season triumphs include a monumental Daytona 500 win and a streak of three consecutive wins to open the a season -- a feat never accomplished before in the history of the Cup Series. Reddick's teammate Bubba Wallace is running strong as well, sitting third in points.

Tyler Reddick, 23XI Racing, Michael Jordan, co-owner of 23XI Racing

Photo by: Jonathan Bachman - Getty Images

CBS News was with Jordan and team at Phoenix a few weeks ago, and he did a sit-down interview with Gayle King where they touched on the contentious lawsuit that ended in December of last year.

A snippet of that interview has been released with Jordan once again confirming how it was his desire to change the sport with the lawsuit.

"When I got into the sport, as I learned, there was a lot of things I wasn't really happy about," explained Jordan. "The sport was not set up for success, long-term, for the individuals that were involved in the sport. Now up top, yeah, they were making a good living. And the people that were putting on the show were not getting the type of recognition -- or were compensated fairly.

Once he understood the business dynamic, MJ decided the sport needed to change and he wasn't about to wait for someone else to do something about. "...Even if I get kicked out of the sport, even if I lose the lawsuit, I'm going to wake up some people to understand that they're actually doing is wrong," he said as he reflected on the decision to sue NASCAR and the France family.

"You know, I've been a fan. It's not like I just woke up and said, I'm going to go and attack NASCAR. No, I've been involved with NASCAR and a supporter of NASCAR for a long period of time. 

He admitted that he was nervous about taking the stand, but that he was 'all in' and wanted to see it through to the end. "I was aggressively going to win. I became a competitor all over again. First of all, I wouldn't sue you if I didn't think I had a good case, and we had a good case."

The rest of Jordan's interview will appear on the 'CBS Sunday Morning' show, just before the seventh round of the 2026 NASCAR Cup season at the historic Martinsville Speedway.