Michael Jordan Is NASCAR's King of Viral Moments After Another ‘Weird’ Celebration Clip
Michael Jordan keeps finding new ways to dominate headlines — and this time, it has nothing to do with basketball.
The six-time NBA champion is once again at the center of a viral NASCAR moment after a post-race celebration clip showed him playfully grabbing Denny Hamlin by the neck and kissing the side of his head.
The moment quickly spread across social media and sparked a wave of reactions.
Another Viral NASCAR Moment for Michael Jordan
The interaction took place April 19 at Kansas Speedway, just minutes after Tyler Reddick secured a dramatic final-lap win.
As Jordan celebrated, cameras caught him approaching Hamlin, wrapping his hand around his neck in a playful chokehold and planting a kiss on his head before walking off.
The clip didn’t take long to go viral.
“Who grabs another man’s neck and kisses them. So WEIRD,” one user wrote on X, echoing the confusion — and amusement — that quickly followed online.
Why Michael Jordan Kissed Denny Hamlin
As unusual as the clip looked, the context behind it makes the moment easier to understand.
Jordan and Hamlin co-own 23XI Racing, a team they launched ahead of the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season. The organization fields three full-time drivers: Reddick, Bubba Wallace and Riley Herbst.
But Hamlin also drives full-time for Joe Gibbs Racing — meaning he regularly competes against his own team.
That dynamic adds a personal edge to race days. And at Kansas Speedway, it mattered.
Hamlin led a race-high 131 laps and appeared poised for victory with just two laps remaining. But a late caution forced an overtime restart, opening the door for Reddick to surge past Kyle Larson on the final lap.
Hamlin finished fourth. Reddick, meanwhile, secured his fifth win of the 2026 season — a major accomplishment just nine races into the year.
Denny Hamlin’s Trash Talk Fuels the Rivalry
After the race, Jordan made it clear the moment wasn’t just celebration — it was competition.
“Look, I’m racing against Denny. So in essence, I really wanted to beat him because I know we’re going to talk a lot of trash a little bit later,” he said in an interview with FOX Sports.
Hamlin offered his own perspective on the April 20 episode of his Actions Detrimental podcast.
“I mean, I don’t expect him to understand where I’m at in that moment, right,” Hamlin said. “Every other Reddick win, I’ve been split, happy, sad, happy, sad and it just kind of depends on how my day went.”
“This one, I was full a hundred percent in my way on this one… Like the emotions were all on Team 11 on that one for sure.”
He also revealed that the back-and-forth started before the race.
“I told him the same thing I said on this podcast last week, that if something weird doesn’t happen, Kansas is a guaranteed win,” Hamlin said.
“He’s very happy because of how much s**t I talk to him, actually… He probably wants to beat me as much as anyone. When it’s head-to-head, he wants to see the 23XI drivers beat me because I talk that trash.”
Michael Jordan’s History of Viral NASCAR Moments
The Kansas clip is just the latest example of Jordan becoming an unexpected viral presence in NASCAR.
Back in February, he drew attention during Reddick’s Daytona 500 celebration after a video showed him interacting with Reddick’s 6-year-old son, Beau. Without context, it appeared Jordan was grabbing and rubbing Beau’s back and leg.
The clip sparked debate online, though additional footage suggested Jordan may have been brushing ice or liquid off the child following a celebratory dousing.
Now, with the “choke-and-kiss” moment at Kansas, Jordan has added another entry to his growing list of off-track viral highlights.
Michael Jordan’s Presence Is Bigger Than the Race
For NASCAR, Jordan’s presence continues to generate attention far beyond the track — blending competition, personality and unpredictability.
And for Jordan and Hamlin, the dynamic remains unchanged. The rivalry is real. The trash talk is constant.
And increasingly, the viral moments are part of the show.
This article was created by content specialists using various tools, including AI.
