'It's all worth it': Brad Daugherty reflects on historic Daytona 500 triumph with Geschickters
Brad Daugherty had spent Sunday morning at Daytona International Speedway, talking over the Daytona 500 plan with driver Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and the rest of his JTG Daugherty Racing team. Patience was one of the messages he preached to his driver, now in his fourth season with the single-car operation. The message resonated, he said.
Daugherty’s day at the track also included a visit with Hall of Famer Richard Petty, whose No. 43 he wore on his jersey in tribute to NASCAR’s king as a five-time NBA All-Star with the Cleveland Cavaliers. He also talked shop with JTG Daugherty competition director Ernie Cope to get a sense of what the day would hold.
Then, ironically because of the abundant Florida sun that blessed Daytona with mostly pleasant weather through the week leading up to Sunday’s 500, Daugherty had to head home.
“I had eye surgery last week, and I had gotten some fluid in my eye and had it drained out of my eyeball, which was a lot of fun,” Daugherty said in a Tuesday morning phone interview. “And so I had a tough time seeing. … Everything got going, and I’ve got a home in Orlando. I just went home because I couldn’t see real well. And so I got in where I could get in the dark and get the man cave fired up, and I sat and watched it on TV, which was great because nobody could bother me and I could watch the whole thing.”
“Made in the shade” was about to take on a new meaning. What Daugherty buckled in for was the longest Daytona 500 in history and a moment of triumph for the underdog team from Harrisburg, North Carolina. Like the rest of the viewing audience, Daugherty had to wait briefly for an official review of the overtime finishing order once the field was frozen by a race-ending crash. Even then, once the ruling came in, it still took a beat for the magnitude to sink in.
“I sat there for a second. And I was like … We just won the Daytona 500. I realized I was by myself, but I was like, ‘OK, this is really great, because you’re talking to yourself,\"” Daugherty recalled. “And then I just went nuts. So then my phone started ringing — people from NASCAR calling me, the team was calling me … everybody. I was just like, this is unbelievable. This is an unbelievable moment in NASCAR history, for a little race team at Harrisburg, and for a team that just doesn’t quit.”
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Two days later, Daugherty says he’s still trying to sort his way through the more than 200 texts and phone calls from well-wishers, and he’s also soaking in the history he made and shared with his fellow team owners. Daugherty became the first Black primary team owner to win the Daytona 500, and co-owner Jodi Geschickter — who launched the team with her husband, Tad, as an Xfinity Series operation in 1995 — became just the second woman to claim victory in the “Great American Race” from the team-ownership side.
Daugherty was quick to acknowledge the contributions of Black team owners and drivers in his peer group who had built the foundation alongside him — Tinsley Hughes, Bill Lester and Sam Belnavis, who had a partial stake in the Miller-sponsored Stavola Brothers entry that Hall of Famer Bobby Allison drove to his final Daytona 500 victory in 1988. That group includes longtime friend and fellow NBA legend Michael Jordan, who is now with him among the NASCAR team ownership ranks with 23XI Racing and driver Bubba Wallace.
“I get to stand here as the first African-American owner to get to hoist that Harley J. Earl trophy. Man, we’ve made history. This is historical, and nobody can take that from us or take that from me,” Daugherty said. “I’m so proud, and I look forward to hoisting more trophies with my race team. And as we move forward, just a lot of pride. We’re not one of these big, massive race teams. We’re a little, small group of about 50 people, and we just go out every day and beat and bang, and grind and hustle, and there’s a lot of times a lot of days, a lot of nights, man, we get our teeth kicked in. It’s just absolutely what happens. But on days like Sunday, man, it’s all worth it. It’s all worth it. This has all been worth it.”
Stock-car racing had always captured the attention of Daugherty, who was raised in the small town of Black Mountain in western North Carolina. As he grew into his 7-foot frame and became a basketball star first at Charles D. Owen High School and later at the University of North Carolina, his passions were shaped by the picturesque outdoors of the surrounding Blue Ridge hills and the complexion of his community.
“I grew up there with 5,000, 6,000 people, maybe 100 African-Americans, and they’re all my cousins,” Daugherty said. “So, my friends I played basketball with and played baseball with, were always Caucasian males who were my best friends, and so, my life just emulated their life to a certain degree. You know, I’m a country kid, and I like to hunt, I like to fish. I’ll even listen to country music every once in a while, and so I love racing.
“But when I came along and got involved, I mean, it was very stark. And I realized a lot of days that my face was the only face of color at the entire track. And that was always, it was humbling in some respects, but it was never a deterrent. I was never going to let anyone tell me where I couldn’t go, because of the color of my skin, and I’m always going to do whatever I want to do. And so I think that attitude served me well.”
Daugherty was introduced to the Geschickters by Robert Pressley — a longtime Xfinity Series standout and fellow western N.C. resident — in 2008, which turned out to be a pivotal year for the organization. Daugherty eventually became a part of the ownership group, and the team transitioned to a full-time Cup Series entrant the following season.
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Daugherty’s involvement came on the early edge of NASCAR’s increased focus on making the sport more accessible and inclusive for minorities. It’s made strides since those stark days that he initially referenced, and his fellow team owners have sought to further those efforts.
“I mean, America doesn’t just look like the people in the garage have looked like for 55 years,” Tad Geschickter said. “It’s diverse and everyone has different points of view and different talents and treasures. Brad certainly adds a different element to what we do and different thinking and a different background, and I think it’s the same from engineering to tire changers to drivers. It’s sorely needed.
“NASCAR has done the heavy lifting to really call that out as a priority, and we’re going to keep digging in that direction. It’s good for the sport. We need to look exactly like the cross-section America is to continue to build our fan base, so it’s awesome.”
Daugherty says his respect for the Geschickters and their business savvy was mutual.
“They’ve been doing this for 29 years, and just tremendous sacrifice,” Daugherty said. “You hear Tad talk about it all the time, just bootstrapped it along and have put together a pretty remarkable organization. They’re workers. Tad hustles on that marketing side. He’s got a great acumen for marketing and business. And Jodi is just a fantastic businessperson. She’s very, very smart. I mean, there’s times we’ll have meetings and I’m all over the map, and I’ve got OCD real bad and I’ve had two cups of coffee and I’ve got all these grandiose ideas. Tad, he’s a non-conflict guy, so he kind of goes along with things. And so the bridge in the road is Jodi. She will bring my rear end right back into the bull’s eye very quickly while I’m just all over the map, and I love it.”
While Daugherty works to clear his phone of new texts and missed call notifications, one notable interaction has already generated some buzz. Jodi Geschickter relayed during the winning team’s post-race press conference that she spoke with Daugherty by phone after the Daytona 500 victory, and that his conversations with Jordan involved “talking trash.”
Daugherty said Tuesday that outside of his own No. 47 team, he frequently roots for the success of Wallace and Jordan’s No. 23 group. The notion that any playful jabs he sent Jordan’s way were anything more than light-hearted banter made him laugh.
“Aw, man, Michael and I are best friends. He’s awesome,” Daugherty says. “I saw all that today, and that unfortunately becomes clickbait because of Michael’s name, and everyone wants it to be some old NBA rivalry. That’s just garbage. I’ve known Michael since I was 17. I consider him a good friend, and I admire him, and I’m thankful for Michael Jordan. I’m so thankful because without him, a guy like Bubba Wallace doesn’t get a chance, and that’s gonna be long-term.
“So, no trash talk. I’m pulling for MJ, man. I hope these guys win a bunch of races and I hope they win a championship soon. They’re capable.”
