Kurt Busch knew Michael Jordan was serious during Daytona 500 week: 'He knew their agendas'

For anyone who still thinks Michael Jordan is simply the "big name" attached to 23XI Racing team, it's probably time to find another narrative.

Don't take it from me, though.

"He's a very genuine, laid back and intelligent person," said Kurt Busch, who is 14 races into his first season driving for Jordan and Denny Hamlin's second-year race team.

"The way he read the room down in Daytona earlier this year with other team owners ... he was explaining Jack Roush to a tee. Jeff Gordon. Rick Hendrick. He hadn't been around these people very long and he knew exactly who they were, what their agendas were and the approach on things.

"It's been neat to learn from a guy like him off the track this season."

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Busch puts Jordan brand in Victory Lane

Through the first three months of the season, it's safe to say both parties are doing the teaching.

Busch, the 2004 Cup champion, won two weeks ago at Kansas, putting 23XI Racing in Victory Lane for the second time in the organization's 49th race. Bubba Wallace won last fall at Talladega, giving Jordan his first win as a Cup Series team owner.

This one was different, though. More of a statement, too.

After all, Kansas is a 1.5-mile track — the bread and butter of the NASCAR schedule, and the tracks that tend to separate the pretenders from the contenders.

"I hope we're not done with it," Busch said. "We need to find more combinations during these summer months to win and also prep for the playoffs. This group of men and women who jumped over to this 45 car knew we had our work cut out for us, so we're not done.

"We want to take this team from good, to great."

Busch has made a career out of doing just that, winning the championship back in 2004 with Roush, 10 races with Penske from 2006-11, six more with Stewart-Haas and then one race per year from 2019-21 with Chip Ganassi.

This latest venture, though, was always going to be the most challenging, with a newer organization, a new team within that organization, and raw owners only in their second year.

Still, Busch said, Hamlin and Jordan made it clear early in the process that the bar was set high.

"I won a championship when I was really young," said Busch, now 43. "Something I did wrong, though, was I didn't find those next set of goals and properly go out and get those goals achieved. That's something that MJ and I have talked about with Denny, Toyota, everybody. Just the, 'What do we need to do next?'"

Well, that's two-fold, Busch said.

Big picture, he believes a championship run is possible this season.

"You come from an upstart and now it's a contender," Busch said. "You have to continue to push that belief."

When is Formula One, Indy 500 and NASCAR?

Short term, the "next" is this weekend at Charlotte for the longest race of the season and the greatest motorsports Sunday of the year.

Formula One gets the day started with the Monaco Grand Prix at 9 a.m. (ESPN), followed by the 106th running of the Indy 500 at 12:45 p.m (NBC).

Busch and the NASCAR Cup Series will take us home with the Coca-Cola 600, which famously begins in the sunshine at 6 p.m. (FOX) but ends under the lights in what is routinely the longest race of the season.

Feels like it, too.

"Oh yeah, it does feel long," said Busch, who won this race back in 2010. "My mental approach is, there's a daytime portion and nighttime portion. I break it up into two. There are 400 laps, and it usually starts with a 90-degree type day in the car, so there's a lot of things that zap you all at once.

"You have to have sort of an easy week leading into it and mentally prep to be ready."

NASCAR on TV this weekend

Friday

1:30 p.m., NASCAR Camping World Truck Series: Qualifying at Charlotte Motor Speedway, FS1

3:30 p.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series: Qualifying at Charlotte Motor Speedway, FS1

6 p.m., ARCA Menards Series: General Tire 150 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, FS1

8:30 p.m., NASCAR Camping World Truck Series: North Carolina Education Lottery

Saturday

1 p.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series: Alsco Uniforms 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, FS1

7 p.m., NASCAR Cup Series: Qualifying at Charlotte Motor Speedway, FS1

Sunday

6 p.m., NASCAR Cup Series: Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, FOX

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Michael Jordan showed Kurt Busch how serious he was during Daytona 500