Richard Childress to testify in NASCAR antitrust trial amid derogatory texts and revenue dispute

The texts came out in the discovery phase of this messy saga in which Basketball Hall of Famer Michael Jordan refused to accept NASCAR’s final offer on a new charter agreement and decided to sue the Florida-based France family, which founded NASCAR in 1948 and privately owns the stock car racing series.

It took Jordan’s testimony Friday to bring the national spotlight to NASCAR, but not for its racing product or its competition. Instead, Jordan is out to prove NASCAR is run by a family of dictators enriching themselves at the expense of the teams and drivers. Jordan and three-time Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin, along with Front Row Racing, were the only two teams out of 15 to refuse the new charter agreements offered in September 2024 with a six-hour deadline to sign the 112-page document.

A charter is similar to the franchise model in other sports, but in NASCAR it guarantees 36 teams spots in the 40-car field, as well as specific revenue.

NASCAR publicly admitted it wants to settle the case in comments made ahead of the November season finale by Phelps, but the first week of testimony in the Western District of North Carolina has revealed Jordan and Front Row owner Bob Jenkins want a combined $340 million in damages.

The case had a dreadfully slow first week in which U.S. District Judge Kenneth Bell told both sides to pick up the pace, but as the plaintiffs close in on calling Childress at the start of the second week, it seems certain the trial will carry into a third week as NASCAR remains days away from beginning its defense.

Every twist in the yearlong court battle has been a setback for NASCAR, which maintains it did give teams an improved revenue model from the original 2016 charter agreement and everything it has done is for the benefit of growing the sport.

However, Jenkins has claimed he’s never turned a profit in more than two decades of racing and has stated losses between $70 million and $100 million. Jordan and Hamlin have admitted 23XI Racing has been profitable in its five years of existence, but largely based on Jordan’s ability to draw high-dollar sponsors.

Jordan, who testified he’s a lifelong NASCAR fan, felt as one of the newer owners in a sport in which the top teams have existed for decades, that he was the only one who could actually challenge the France’s on their way of doing business.

“Someone had to step forward and challenge the entity,” Jordan testified. “I sat in those meetings with longtime owners who were brow-beaten for so many years trying to make change. I was a new person, I wasn’t afraid. I felt I could challenge NASCAR as a whole. I felt as far as the sport, it needed to be looked at from a different view.”

Childress is the next high-profile witness expected to be called as early as Monday afternoon. Although he signed the charter agreement, the longtime car owner for the late Dale Earnhardt wanted the charters to become permanent and is headed to court scorned over the revelation of Phelps’ remarks. Although it is believed that Phelps apologized to Childress ahead of the release of the text messages, Childress has threatened legal action.

Among witnesses NASCAR is expected to call are Hall of Fame team owners Rick Hendrick and Roger Penske, two of the most powerful figures in motorsports. Penske tried to set his court appearance schedule by telling NASCAR he was only available to testify Monday, but the plaintiffs objected to Penske being called in the middle of their presentation.

Bell sided with 23XI Racing and Front Row and told NASCAR to work it out with Penske, who as owner of Indianapolis Motor Speedway and IndyCar, which recently adopted its charter system, can testify to race sanctioning agreements, the revenue models and financial health of race teams.

Hendrick, a close friend of the France family for decades, is a car salesman and Charlotte local who can use his communication skills to support the theory everyone in racing understands the financials and willingly enters into NASCAR and the France’s business model.

AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racingv