Tyler Reddick has won three straight races to open the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season. Each time, Michael Jordan has been right there in Victory Lane. And each time, Fox Sports reporter Jamie Little has been the one with the microphone.
That’s not a coincidence. It’s the result of years of trust-building that has made her Jordan’s preferred voice in NASCAR media.
Jamie Little Earns Michael Jordan’s Trust as 23XI Racing Reporter
The relationship started in 2021. Little learned that Jordan had described her as someone who “knows everything about NASCAR.” That compliment opened a door. Introductions were made, and on-camera opportunities began to follow.
But knowing someone’s name and earning their trust are two different things. Little still had to make the first move.
Two years ago, Reddick won at Talladega. Jordan was in Victory Lane. Little saw her chance.
“I knew MJ was there,” she told Front Office Sports. “I said, ‘I’m going to go for it.’ That’s just kind of my personality. I always ask. The worst they can do is say no.”
She walked up. Jordan gave her a hug. She asked if she could put him on camera. He said yes.
The same thing happened the following year, each interaction building on the last. By the time the 2026 Daytona 500 arrived, a Fox producer told Little: “They have requested you’re the one who does it.”
Jordan, 63, is famously guarded with the media. NBA reporters spent entire careers trying, and often failing, to get anything real out of him. Yet here he is, talking openly on Fox after every 23XI Racing win.
The contrast with his NBC deal is telling. The network signed him as a “special contributor” for the current NBA season. But it’s Fox, and Little specifically, getting the candid, unscripted version of him.
Little says she doesn’t quite understand what everyone else sees when they talk about Jordan’s reputation. Colleagues have approached her recently, almost in disbelief, to remind her of how tough he was with reporters during his playing days.
Her read on him is simpler. Jordan decides who he trusts. Once that decision is made, that person gets access. Everyone else waits outside.
“He takes a reporter, he trusts them, that’s who he gives information to, that’s who he gives access to,” Little said. “I’m very humbled and honored I’ve become that person.”
For Fox, it’s a genuine competitive advantage. Authentic access to one of the most recognizable figures in sports history doesn’t come around often. As long as 23XI keeps winning, Jamie Little will keep getting the interviews everyone else is chasing.
