Michael Jordan paid STUNNING tribute as stars make surprise NASCAR appearance

NASCAR team owner Michael Jordan has been paid a stunning tribute at this weekend's Cook Out Southern 500, with the basketball icon making a surprise appearance on one of his 23XI Racing cars.

The race at Darlington Raceway took place on Sunday, signaling the end of the NASCAR Cup Series regular season, with the playoffs set to get underway next weekend in the Quaker State 400 at Atlanta.

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However, ahead of the event, it was revealed that Jordan's co-owned 23XI Racing would be running a special livery on one of their vehicles, with their co-owner set to feature on their hood.

The announcement was made earlier this week, with 23XI Racing confirming a huge deal with Upper Deck - a global sports collectibles company.

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23XI Racing run Michael Jordan livery

Jordan is not the only athlete whom the livery pays tribute to, either, with other sporting icons in Tiger Woods and Wayne Gretzky also featuring on the #45 car.

Showcasing the livery on Instagram, 23XI Racing wrote: "🐐🐐🐐 @tyler_reddick has some legends rolling with him this weekend at @darlingtonraceway!"

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A post shared by 23XI Racing (@23xiracing)

Speaking about racing with the iconic livery on his car, Tyler Reddick said: "I remember seeing the car in the shop last week, and I saw Michael on the hood,"

"I quickly went by the gym or whatever, and then a couple of days later, I took another look at it and realized Tiger [Woods] and Wayne [Gretzky] were on the hood too.

"So yeah, that’s just adding to the pressure for the weekend. It’s fine with me.”

READ MORE: Jordan-owned 23XI Racing announce huge new deal

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