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    NASCAR Blinks After Eight Days of Testimony Gone Wrong

    1 day ago

    NASCAR settled an antitrust lawsuit with two race teams, including one co-owned by Michael Jordan, on Thursday after a delay on the ninth day of the trial. 23XI Racing, owned by Jordan, Denny Hamlin, and Curtis Polk, along with Front Row Motorsports owner Bob Jenkins, sued NASCAR in October 2024 after refusing to sign the charter agreement. Both teams raced most of the 2025 season uncharted and said a loss in the case would have put them out of business. The charter system guarantees 36 teams a spot in every Cup Series race and a fixed revenue stream. Implemented in 2016, teams argued for over two years that charters needed to be made permanent, as they had been revokable by NASCAR, and revenue sharing had to change. NASCAR Chairman Jim France testified Wednesday that he refused to commit to permanent charters because he wanted flexibility to adapt to changes in the sport and its business model. That position, maintained through two years of negotiations, crumbled spectacularly once testimony began. In September 2024, NASCAR presented a take it or leave it final offer, giving teams until end of day to sign a 112 page document. Thirteen of 15 organizations signed. Testimony in court revealed many did so with a gun to their heads because the threat of losing the charters would have put them out of business. Jordan and Jenkins refused and sued instead. Eight days of testimony went badly for NASCAR, which when it began to present its case seemed focused more on mitigating damages than proving it did not violate antitrust laws. Jordan testified that as a new team owner, he felt he had the strength to challenge NASCAR, saying someone had to step forward and challenge the entity. The discovery process did NASCAR no favors either. A letter from Bass Pro Shops founder Johnny Morris was publicly released Wednesday night calling for NASCAR commissioner Steve Phelps to be removed after internal communications revealed Phelps called Hall of Fame team owner Richard Childress derogatory names. Bass Pro sponsors multiple teams, including Childress'. An economist testified that NASCAR owes 23XI and Front Row $364.7 million in damages, and that NASCAR shorted 36 chartered teams $1.06 billion from 2021 to 2024. Those numbers, combined with testimony showing the France family's refusal to negotiate in good faith, made the courtroom atmosphere increasingly hostile to NASCAR's position. The settlement includes an amendment to the existing charter agreement with a form of evergreen charters, subject to mutual agreement. Evergreen means automatic renewal. Based on trial testimony, the charters would auto renew and NASCAR could not take them away, provided teams met certain criteria and didn't simply start and park. Both Jordan and NASCAR confirmed that charters will now be permanent for all teams, and 23XI and Front Row will receive their combined six charters back for 2026.   U.S. District Judge Kenneth Bell told the jury that sometimes parties at trial have to see how the evidence unfolds to come to the wisdom of a settlement. Translation: NASCAR saw where this was heading and decided cutting losses was smarter than risking a verdict. Jordan and France stood side by side on the courthouse steps afterward, performing the required theater of reconciliation. The reality is simpler. Two teams bet their existence on a lawsuit, NASCAR bet it could win in court, and the teams called the bluff successfully.
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