Race Weekend Central

Report: LeBron James New Partner of Roush Fenway Racing’s Parent Company

Less than five months after Michael Jordan announced his entry into NASCAR with 23XI Racing, it’s being reported that LeBron James could be entering the game via Roush Fenway Racing.

The Boston Globe reported Tuesday that James, a four-time NBA champion, is the newest partner of Fenway Sports Group, the parent company of Roush Fenway Racing.

RFR fields the No. 6 of Ryan Newman and the No. 17 of Chris Buescher in the NASCAR Cup Series.

The Boston Globe is owned by John Henry, the principal owner of the Fenway Sports Group.

James currently plays for the Los Angeles Lakers and is often the subject of debate about whether he or Jordan is the best basketball player of all time.

This wouldn’t be James’ first time experiencing NASCAR or working with RFR.

Ten years ago, Fenway Sports Management entered a partnership with LRMR Marketing & Branding, which is co-owned by James. In 2015, Roush tried to use those ties to help Bubba Wallace, who then raced for the team in the Xfinity Series, find sponsorship.

In 2005, James’ image was on a car driven by Bobby Labonte as part of sponsorship by Powerade.

RFR, founded by Jack Roush as Roush Racing, has competed in NASCAR since 1988. Across all three series, it has earned 325 wins with 137 in the Cup Series. It has also claimed two Cup championships, with Matt Kenseth in 2003 and Kurt Busch in 2004.

The Fenway Sports Group acquired 50% of the race team in 2007.

FSG also own the Boston Red Sox, Liverpool FC, an English Premier League football club; 80% of New England Sports Network (NESN) and iRacing, which Henry co-founded in 2004.

Frontstretch has reached out Roush Fenway Racing for comment but had not yet heard back at press time.

About the author

Daniel McFadin is a 10-year veteran of the NASCAR media corp. He wrote for NBC Sports from 2015 to October 2020. He currently works full time for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and is lead reporter and an editor for Frontstretch. He is also host of the NASCAR podcast "Dropping the Hammer with Daniel McFadin" presented by Democrat-Gazette.

You can email him at danielmcfadin@gmail.com.

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