I know that usually this blog is a venue for me to tell those interested about the week that was. With there not being a heck of a lot to talk about (save a few trips to Ingersoll to get groceries), I decided to tell you about the latest step I took in my thus-far unsuccessful job search.
It should come as no surprise that I am a big NASCAR fan. (The sound you hear is every person I know – at least those still following along at home – rolling their eyes and saying “Really? You don’t say, John!”) A couple of years ago, I searched the Internet and compiled a list of emails for various NASCAR teams. In most cases, I was able to find a contact for their communications or hiring departments. With nothing else too much on the horizon, I decided to revisit that list this past week.
I was already working on revamping my resume, updated the cold call cover letter that I had written up some time ago and utilized that contact list to send queries to about 10 NASCAR teams.
Now, and this is the important part, I was never seriously expected to get a job offer from this little exercise. I figured they would want to hire someone with experience working in motorsports and would be able to work in their offices in the States.
But, as Wayne Gretzky once said, “you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” I figured it was a good way to motivate myself to update my resume, which I have been meaning to do for the jobs I figure I actually have a shot at. The cover letter probably took the longest times. (I made sure to stress that I had proven experience working remotely while maintaining productivity.) Once I had that in place, the email part was probably 10-15 minutes – tops.
Okay, so this is NOT the part where I reveal that I’m the new Communications Director for a major NASCAR team. I did however get some interesting feedback.
The first was an email from Jesse Iwuji Motorsports. While Jesse Iwuji may not be the biggest name in NASCAR, he’s someone I’ve been a fan of for years. It started about 10 years ago when he liked several of my Instagram posts. A few years ago, someone on X asked people to name their favourite Craftsman Truck Series driver. In addition to Matt Crafton and Canadian (and fellow 7-25er) Stewart Friesen, I named Jesse Iwuji. Jesse replied with a “thank-you emoji.”
The email from Jesse Iwuji Motorsports went a bit further than the usual “Thanks but we’re not hiring” routine that I have gotten from a lot of non-NASCAR jobs I’ve applied for here in Ontario. Instead, they added that now that they had my contact information, “if there’s something comes up that makes sense, we can definitely reach out to you. I will definitely say keep reaching out to as many teams as you can, and see if there’s something that might pop up. You never know who needs someone.”
I replied to let them know that I was really appreciative of their encouragement in pursuing a job in NASCAR. Considering that about four-and-a-half years ago, I applied for a job at a company I spent nearly five years at, helping to build their Internal Communications department, and got not a word in return, I find it interesting that a NASCAR team in the U.S. took the time to send me more than the standard “Thanks but no thanks” reply.
The next day, I got another “response” to my outreach to NASCAR. I noticed that someone had viewed my website. One of the cool things about WordPress is that it tells you where the people who are viewing your website are from. (This is how I found out that North Bergen, New Jersey is the site of a major data centre. I have at least two or three visits from North Bergen every week. For a while I was like “Who the <bleep> do I know in New Jersey???”)
So I decided to see who had checked out my website, figuring that it would be another visit from my friends in North Bergen. Instead, my latest visitor had come from Mooresville, North Carolina, a veritable hotbed of NASCAR teams.
At the same time, I noticed that someone had visited my LinkedIn account. With me being on their free version, LinkedIn wasn’t going to tell me anything more than the number of profile views on my account had risen by one. (Actually it didn’t even tell me that, I’ve just been keeping track.)
I decided to do a little detective work. Initially I googled to see what teams had their headquarters in Mooresville and found several, including the ones I had sent a resume to. However, I also remembered that my email account sends me a notification when someone opens an email I’ve sent. I’d had four of the ten teams open my email: Jesse Iwuji Motorsports, ThorSport, Trackhouse Racing, and 23XI Racing.
As I recalled above, Jesse Iwuji Motorsports had already replied to me (plus they are headquartered in Florida). ThorSport is out of Sandusky, Ohio. Trackhouse Racing has a headquarters in Nashville, Tennessee but also operates out of Concord, North Carolina.
That left just one: Mooresville, North Carolina – based 23XI Racing.
With all due respect to my readership, I’m guessing that most of you aren’t too aware of 23XI Racing, so allow me to enlighten you. Most of the names are probably unfamiliar but there might be one that will pique your interest.
23XI Racing is a NASCAR team made up of three drivers, all at the Cup level. Darryl Wallace, Jr. (aka “Bubba”), 2026 Daytona 500 winner Tyler Reddick, and Riley Herbst, who is leaving the team at the end of this season, to be replaced by 2025 Camping World Truck Series champion Corey Heim (not to be confused with the late actor, Corey Haim).
23XI Racing is co-owned by three-time Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin and some basketball player named Michael Jordan.
You know – Six-time NBA Champion and five-time MVP Michael Jordan of the Chicago Bulls. The greatest player of all time! Yeah, THAT Michael Jordan!!!
I was joking with my Mom that maybe there was a scenario where Michael Jordan was walking around 23XI Racing’s headquarters, getting in a little face time with the employees. Maybe he sticks his head into the Human Resources department and says “Hey, what’s up, HR? What are you up today?”
To which the HR employee says “I’m just checking out this email from some guy from Canada who’s looking for a communications job in NASCAR.”
“Oh yeah, what’s his story?” says Michael Jordan.
“Well he hasn’t got any experience in motorsports and he’s from Canada, so unlikely he’d relocate to our headquarters here in Mooresville, North Carolina. Still, his resume looks interesting and he’s got a portfolio website,” replies the HR person.
“Well, let’s check it out,” says Jordan.
OKAY! HOLD UP! I am not seriously suggesting that there’s even a gazillion to one shot that Michael Jordan actually viewed my website. Plus, 23XI Racing has not reached out to me to offer me a job and quite honestly I don’t expect them to. More than likely, I’ll be lucky to get a “Thanks but no thanks” letter on Monday or Tuesday of next week.
What I am saying is that, for a few minutes at least, I was a blip on the radar of a NASCAR team, which just happens to be owned by Michael Jordan.
And that’s kinda cool to think about.
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