Quite the honor to be selected by MJ.
NASCAR fans have been seeing quite a bit of Michael Jordan lately. 23XI Racing, the team owned by the NBA legend along with Denny Hamlin, has won three races in a row now as Tyler Reddick in the #45 car has swept the first three races of the 2026 season.
Obviously it’s great for the sport to have such a massive personality front and center promoting the sport (despite what some in NASCAR apparently think). MJ is brining attention to the sport from people and media who never would have cared about NASCAR before, which is exactly what they need at a time when they’ve been not only struggling to attract new fans but also retain their old ones. If I were NASCAR, I would welcome it and want him out there giving interviews about the sport as much as they can.
But apparently there’s one reporter in particular who Jordan prefers over all the others.
The past few weeks, fans watching the Cup Series races have seen veteran pit reporter Jamie Little interviewing MJ both during and after the race.
And as it turns out, that’s at the request of Jordan himself.
Little spoke to Front Office Sports about her new role as the “MJ Whisperer” during races, and revealed that Jordan specifically asked FOX for her to be the one to interview him:
“Fast forward to this year at the Daytona 500. The night before the race, I got a call from my producer, Max. He says, ‘I’m going to add something to your list. And give you a compliment.’ He said, ‘I’m going to have you interview MJ. They have requested you’re the one who does it.’ I said, ‘Oh, that’s a great honor.’ So that’s kind of how this whole streak began.”
Jordan is notoriously selective about the interviews he grants, but Little says she formed a relationship with him over the past two years after shooting her shot in Victory Lane when Tyler Reddick won at Talladega:
“I knew MJ was there. He went into Victory Lane. 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. So I went up to him. He gives me a big hug. I’m like, ‘I think I’m in.’ So I said, ‘Do you mind if I ask you a question on camera?’ He’s like, ‘Sure.’ So we got the first interview.”
And she says she’s got a system now for scoring the interview that every reporter wants:
“Now I make eye contact with him. He gives me a nod. Puts his arm around me. I always ask first, ‘Are you OK with me asking you a question?’ I know he’ll say no if he doesn’t feel the vibe. But heck, he’s winning. So it’s the perfect time.”
Obviously it’s quite the honor for Little, who joined ESPN in 1998 and has served as the pit reporter for NASCAR on FOX since 2015. She also serves as the play-by-play announcer for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, the first woman to serve in that role for a national motorsports series.
But it’s also something that NASCAR should be thrilled about, because every single one of those interviews goes viral on social media and gets reported on by sports media who would have never covered NASCAR before.
Michael Jordan might very well be on his way to becoming the new face of NASCAR. And Jamie Little is the reporter he trusts to make it happen.
