Tension rose again in the NASCAR trial on Tuesday as Commissioner Steve Phelps took the stand and was questioned about the long fight over team charters and revenue sharing.
The lawsuit, brought by 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports, claims NASCAR uses rules and business practices that limit competition and keep team payments low.
The case entered its second week in Charlotte, and Phelps’ testimony added new details about how NASCAR handled negotiations and how much control the league holds over tracks, teams, and technology.
With more witnesses scheduled, the trial continues to uncover years of internal disagreements and high-stakes decisions.
Dispute over charter talks and NASCAR’s leverage
According to Jeff Gluck and Jordan Bianchi of The Athletic, Phelps denied claims that NASCAR pressured teams with a take-it-or-leave-it deadline. When shown an email where he wrote teams could “sign or lose their charters,” he responded, “That is not what happened.” He also pushed back at the idea that NASCAR acted as a monopolist, calling the suggestion “unfair.”
He explained that the team’s first request for $720 million per year would, in his view, have left NASCAR “bankrupt.” “The sport would cease to exist,” Phelps said. He also described the negotiation as “one of the most challenging and the longest” he had ever taken part in.
Phelps confirmed his total compensation “was worth as much as $5 million per year,” and he acknowledged that the France family received nearly $400 million from 2021 to 2024, though he was unsure how much was used for taxes.
Monopoly Concerns Raised in the NASCAR Trial
According to Autoweek’s reporter Deb Williams, economist Edward Snyder testified that “NASCAR protects itself from having other entrants into the sport through Charters and sanctions. Also, restrictions are on the cars.” He also said teams were paid “below a competitive market rate” and added that negotiations were not meaningful because “the teams didn’t have anywhere else to sell their services.”
Snyder stated that NASCAR’s long-term track exclusivity agreements block competitors, noting that NASCAR “controls the tracks, the teams, and the cars, which forces teams to accept less favorable terms. He testified that these agreements prevent tracks that host NASCAR from holding events with rival racing series.”
Snyder calculated that NASCAR owed 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports $364.7 million in damages and found that all 36 chartered teams together were shorted $1.06 billion from 2021 to 2024. He also noted that NASCAR held $2.2 billion in assets and an equity value of about $5 billion during the period studied.
Emails, memory gaps, and concerns over rival series
Phelps said he did not recall several emails raised in court, including one showing Speedway Motorsports agreed to “reject other competitor series that may present themselves.” He also said he did not remember a message noting teams once discussed running their own event, something NASCAR opposed.
But Phelps did remember early worry about the launch of the SRX series. He texted executives that SRX “could turn into LIV if we don’t play our cards right,” and later wrote, “Need to put a knife in this trash series.” He said his frustration came from teams racing in a series with sponsors and colors that looked similar to NASCAR.
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