Brad Daugherty after the team's victory at the Daytona 500: Couldn't be more proud



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Brad Daugherty after the team's victory at the Daytona 500: Couldn't be more proud
Brad Daugherty after the team's victory at the Daytona 500: Couldn't be more proud (Provided by Financial World)

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. of JTG Daugherty Racing was able to claim victory in the Daytona 500. Although many were skeptical about him and his team, Stenhouse Jr. silenced the critics with this victory. One of the team's owners, Brad Daugherty, became the first African American owner to win the Daytona 500.

He also won over another African-American team owner; Michael Jordan. “Without Michael Jordan, we don’t have an African American driver sitting in a seat that’s capable of winning a race every week. This has been my sport for 35 years, I’ve been the guy, the African American guy who’s tried to ply his way towards creating opportunity,” Daugherty said.

Daugherty also revealed what he said to Michael Jordan. “And I’ve been able to do that on my race team by bringing guys in. And you see a lot of faces along pit road of color that started with my race team. And I’m proud of that.

But I told Michael the significance is, I was never going to be able to put Bubba Wallace in a race car that was capable of winning every week because we’re just small,” Daugherty continued.

Brad Daugherty and his goals

Even as a boy, he dreamed of winning the Daytona 500.

“I had dreams as a little kid of winning the Daytona 500. But my dream was that as a driver, which is crazy because my big rear end is not going to drive. But I always you know, we always thought of myself as being Richard Petty one day,” says Daugherty.

He could not hide his pride after such an important victory and the achievement of the goal. “Standing here as a Daytona 500 champion, something that my dad loved — and that’s how I got introduced to this was through my dad — It’s really, really significant.

And it might be the pinnacle of my sports career. To be a part of something that’s so significant in my life and be a part of something that’s gone through such a dynamic cultural shift. In the last several years, I just couldn’t be more prouder,” added Dougherty.