In the 78-year history of NASCAR, no driver has ever won the first three races of a season. That is, until basketball legend Michael Jordan hired Tyler Reddick and set the 2026 NASCAR season on fire.

In 2020, Jordan teamed with Denny Hamlin to form 23XI Racing. The team has won at various tracks, including Atlanta, Kansas and COTA. Reddick came from the dirt tracks, driving Late Models and was a protege for Scott Bloomquist. Early in his career, he raced at Sharon Speedway with the World of Outlaws.

So far this year, the NASCAR guys have gotten their butts kicked by a dirt tracker. Last year’s champion was also a dirt driver: Kyle Larson.

Jordan is not the first team owner to come from another sport; former Super Bowl-winning coach Joe Gibbs has won five NASCAR championships (2000, 2002, 2005, 2015 and 2019).

NASCAR has taken some hits the last few years and lost some viewers, but I believe it may have turned the corner and is coming back, thanks to new, young and talented talented drivers, a tweaked schedule and some exciting racing with different people at the top.

Grassroots racing, on the other hand, has just kept growing. Sprint cars and Late Models are getting coverage through streaming and some networks. There are six-figure payoffs, corporate, large touring series and exciting racing. And drivers with strong fan bases are showing up at local race tracks.

Ohio has lost three asphalt tracks for this season: Sandusky, Lorain and Barberton. They have been around for many years and now all sit idle with an eerie silence on Saturday night. Yet in Mansfield, Matt Tift, a former NASCAR team owner and driver, has purchased the dormant race track for $2.3 million and has invested over $8 million. New dirt, fencing, grandstands, a 70 foot-by-40-foot jumbotron and increased banking make up a complete facelift. This will become a major racing hub that can host many venues and can accommodate over 20,000 fans.

Mansfield was always a nice facility. I haven’t been there since it was asphalt, but I can’t wait to go back. Within a two-to-three-hour drive, we have so many great tracks to choose from. Race fans, we have to be living in one of the best parts of the entire country for racetracks.

The season is almost here for many of us who need a live race fix. Soon we can get out and support our local racetracks.