Open Books
Episode 010 · Antitrust

NASCAR Had to Approve His $28 Million. He Sued Anyway

Michael Jordan's racing team refused NASCAR's take-it-or-leave-it charter contract and sued. NASCAR denied abusing its control of the sport, and the case settled on the ninth day of the trial.

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Michael Jordan in a red 23XI cap, sunglasses and a white zip top sits on his team's pit box at a race, watching the track
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Picture at the top: Michael Jordan on 23XI Racing’s pit box in June 2021. Photo: Zach Catanzareti, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Michael Jordan’s team sued NASCAR over a midnight deadline

Michael Jordan’s racing team agreed to pay $28 million for a place in NASCAR’s top series, the Cup Series.1 The place came with a charter, a contract that promises a car a start in every race.2 The money sat in escrow, held by a third party until NASCAR approved the sale.3

Two hands slide an orange drawer of papers into a wall of small steel drawers in a bank vault
The money for the third charter was held in escrow until NASCAR approved the sale.

This is why Jordan’s team then sued the body that had to approve its purchase, and what it won in the end.

NASCAR sets the terms of every charter. When it offered a take-it-or-leave-it deal, Jordan’s team refused and sued, alleging that NASCAR had abused its control of the sport.4 NASCAR denied doing anything wrong.5

A white-haired man in a navy suit sits at a long boardroom table and pushes a tied stack of papers across it
NASCAR sets the terms of every charter, and it offered the teams a take-it-or-leave-it deal.

A month after Jordan’s purchase, NASCAR gave the fifteen charter teams a new contract of 112 pages.6 The old charters ran out at the end of 2024, and the teams wanted new ones that would last for good, with a bigger share of the money.7

A woman in a navy suit squares the last of many tied stacks of papers laid in rows on a long table in a glass-walled office
NASCAR gave each of the fifteen charter teams the same 112-page contract.

The teams had six hours, until midnight, to sign it. A team that did not sign risked losing its charters.8 Thirteen of the fifteen teams signed that night.9

A man in a dark fleece reads a thick bound document at a desk beneath a round wall clock showing six o'clock
One team owner said his copy arrived at six in the evening, six hours before the deadline.

Jordan’s team refused, and so did a smaller team, Front Row Motorsports. Twenty-six days later the two teams sued NASCAR and its chairman, Jim France.10 Their case was that NASCAR ran the sport’s only top series, and had used that control to force the terms on the teams.4

Jordan’s team already held two charters, and NASCAR would decide what became of those too.11

A tall bald man in a charcoal suit stands at a desk in a dark race shop office and pushes a stack of papers away, a covered car behind him
Jordan's team refused to sign the new contract by the midnight deadline.

Fourteen months later, on the ninth day of a jury trial, Jordan’s lawyer told the judge the case had settled. The two sides had agreed to end it, and to keep the money terms secret.12

A courtroom seen from the back row, with spectators in dark coats facing the judge, the jury and two counsel tables
The case settled on the ninth day of the jury trial in Charlotte, North Carolina.

The public statement promised a form of “evergreen” charter, one that never runs out.13 Two days earlier, Jim France had sworn in court that NASCAR did not agree to that.14 In the statement, four more words followed “evergreen”. Those four words left NASCAR with the final say.13

A white-haired man in a navy suit raises his right hand in a witness box as a clerk holds out a small black book
Two days before the settlement, NASCAR's chairman testified under oath.

How NASCAR charters work: 36 of 40 places in every Cup race

Since 2016, 36 of the 40 places in each Cup race have belonged to teams with charters.15 A charter also brings a share of the television money. The other four places are raced for each week by cars without charters, called open entries.16

Four stock cars run through a banked corner of a speedway, seen through the catch fence
Cup cars race at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May 2025. Photo: Sgt. Eli Baker, US Army, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

NASCAR told the jury it gave out the first charters in 2016 for free.17 A team can sell its charter on, if NASCAR approves.3

A man and a woman shake hands across a desk over a closed folder while an official in a grey suit stands holding a pen
A team can sell its charter to another team, but the sale needs NASCAR's approval.

Bob Jenkins has owned Front Row Motorsports since 2005. His team won the Daytona 500 in 2021.18 Away from racing, Jenkins owns more than 250 fast-food restaurants.19

A yellow stock car sits on the infield grass at night in a cloud of smoke and confetti, with crew members walking towards it
Front Row's driver, Michael McDowell, celebrates winning the 2021 Daytona 500. Photo: Zach Catanzareti, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Running one car for a season costs about $20 million, by the teams’ figure at trial.20 Under the old deal, NASCAR paid each chartered car $9 million a year.21 Sponsors cover most of the rest, and the owner pays whatever is left.22

A woman in a grey apron smooths a blank sponsor panel onto the bonnet of a stock car in a bright workshop
Sponsors pay for most of what NASCAR's money does not cover.

Michael Jordan and the driver Denny Hamlin started their team, 23XI Racing, in 2020.23 Hamlin still drives for another team, Joe Gibbs Racing, which held four charters.24

A smiling driver in a navy race suit walks beside a uniformed airman during driver introductions at a speedway
Denny Hamlin is introduced before the Coca-Cola 600 in 2025. Photo: Master Sgt. Alexandre Montes, US Air Force, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

On the trial’s first day, Hamlin told the jury how many teams had closed: “There were 19 teams when the first charter agreement got signed in 2016. 11 of them don’t exist.”25

A bearded man in a grey suit speaks from a witness box with one hand open, the judge behind him
Hamlin told the jury that 11 of the 19 teams of 2016 no longer exist.

NASCAR’s charter talks with the teams, 2022 to 2024

Talks on the next charters ran from 2022 to 2024.26 A charter that never expired would keep the millions a team had paid for it.27

In 2023, at NASCAR’s awards week in Nashville, Hamlin joined Jim France at lunch. By Hamlin’s account at trial, France told him the problem in NASCAR was that teams spent too much money. France thought a team should spend about $10 million a season to run a car, against an average of $20 million.28

A white-haired man in navy and a bearded man in a white shirt talk at a round lunch table in a dim hotel ballroom
Hamlin joined Jim France at lunch during NASCAR's awards week in Nashville.

Hamlin answered that teams had already cut their costs as far as they could, and that halving them was not realistic.28 So NASCAR’s answer to the teams’ money problem was that they should spend less. The teams wanted more of the money.

Seen over a white-haired man's shoulder, a bearded man in a grey suit raises both palms as he answers across a lunch table
Hamlin told France that halving a team's costs was not realistic.

In an internal document later shown in court, NASCAR’s head of strategy, Scott Prime, set out where the talks stood: “We have all the leverage and the teams will almost have to sign whatever terms we put in front of them.”29

A balding man in a dark jacket sits at an office desk typing on a phone, a whiteboard of coloured dots behind him
NASCAR's head of strategy, Scott Prime, set out where the talks stood.

Steve Phelps, NASCAR’s president, warned in a message that the teams were “playing with fire”. His advice was that NASCAR should “pick a date and they can either sign or lose their charters. It is that simple.”30

A silver-haired man in a suit stands at a tall office window over a beachfront city, typing on his phone
NASCAR's president, Steve Phelps, warned in a message that the teams were playing with fire.

Steve O’Donnell later became NASCAR’s president. The jury saw his notes from NASCAR’s first meeting about the talks. The notes record Jim France’s view: “Jim’s overarching comments: we are in a competition. We are going to win.”31

A white-haired man in navy leans on a boardroom table with his hands clasped while executives on either side listen
Notes from NASCAR's first meeting about the talks record Jim France's view.

The night 13 of 15 teams signed NASCAR’s charter contract

Heather Gibbs is a co-owner of Joe Gibbs Racing, a team of 450 people. She told the jury: “It was like a gun to your head: if you don’t sign, you have nothing.”32

A blonde woman in cream leans forward in a witness box with her hands pressed together, an orange glass of water beside her
Heather Gibbs told the jury the deadline felt like a gun to the head.

Joe Gibbs Racing signed that night. So did twelve other teams, thirteen of the fifteen.9

A man in shirtsleeves signs a thick document at a conference table late at night while three colleagues watch
Thirteen of the fifteen charter teams signed the new contract before midnight.

Jenkins, who refused, told the jury: “It was insulting, it went so far backward.”33

A stocky man in a tan jacket sits alone at a long conference table and pushes an orange-bound document away
Bob Jenkins, the owner of Front Row Motorsports, refused to sign.

23XI and Front Row sue NASCAR and Jim France

On 2 October 2024, 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports took NASCAR and Jim France to court.10 Jordan’s team had sued the one body whose signature its purchase needed.3

A court clerk in a green cardigan stamps a stack of papers at a counter while a young man in a suit waits holding an empty box
The two teams filed their lawsuit in Charlotte on 2 October 2024.

Jordan told the jury Hamlin had talked him into a third car: “Denny convinced me getting a third driver improved our chances to win, so I dove in.”34

A bearded man in a grey suit points at a bare race car chassis while a tall bald man in charcoal listens with folded arms
Jordan said Hamlin had talked him into running a third car.

In December 2024, Judge Kenneth Bell granted the teams an injunction, an order letting them race with charters while the case went on, and NASCAR let Jordan’s purchase go through.35

A grey-haired judge in a black robe signs a document with a fountain pen at a desk in front of shelves of law books
Judge Kenneth Bell granted the two teams an injunction in December 2024.

Jordan’s team started the 2025 season with three chartered cars. It had paid $28 million for the third. A court could still take it back, and NASCAR’s appeal was already in.36

A man in a navy jacket and cap shakes hands with a driver in a red and yellow race suit under a white tent
Bubba Wallace, who drives Jordan's number 23, at Martinsville in March 2025, while the injunction stood. Photo: Virginia Office of the Governor, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

The appeal court ruling and a season as open entries

On 5 June 2025, the appeal court above Judge Bell threw the injunction out. All three judges on that court, the Fourth Circuit, agreed.37

A pale stone courthouse with rows of arched windows stands on a street corner under a blue sky
The Lewis F. Powell Jr. courthouse in Richmond, Virginia, is the home of the Fourth Circuit. Photo: Smash the Iron Cage, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

From July 2025, all six of the two teams’ cars raced as open entries, without charters.38

A pink and black stock car with the number 45 on its door speeds along a track beside the infield grass
Tyler Reddick's number 45 raced as an open entry at Las Vegas in October 2025. Photo: TaurusEmerald, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

On 27 July 2025, Bubba Wallace won the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis in Jordan’s number 23, his first win since 2022.39 23XI took home the trophy. Because Wallace’s car raced as an open entry, the team still missed the payouts that come with a charter.40

A brightly painted stock car with the number 23 on its roof races along a track
Bubba Wallace's number 23 at Indianapolis on 27 July 2025, the day he won the Brickyard 400. Photo: Bandit5568, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Private messages read out in court

On 28 August 2025, at a court hearing in Charlotte, each side read out the other’s private messages.41

Two lawyers stand at separate lecterns in a courtroom, a woman reading from an orange binder while a man waits with folded arms
At a hearing in August 2025, each side read out the other's private messages.

Steve Lauletta, the president of 23XI, had written about NASCAR’s chairman: “Being in for the long haul and Jim dying is probably the answer.”42

A man in a pullover sits on the arm of an orange sofa typing on his phone, with a race shop floor visible below
The president of 23XI had written a message about NASCAR's chairman.

Jordan’s own message from 2024, about the cost of suing, was read out too. The Associated Press reported it as: “I have lost that much in a casino.”43

Spectators sit on gallery benches while a lawyer in a navy suit reads aloud from a binder at a lectern
Jordan's own message about the cost of suing was read out in court as well.

The NASCAR antitrust trial in Charlotte

The trial opened in Charlotte in December 2025.44

A city crossroads lined with trees and tall office buildings, with a pickup truck waiting at the lights
Trade Street in uptown Charlotte, the street of the federal courthouse where the trial was held. Photo: Amebrahtu1997, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Hamlin was the first witness.45 He told the jury team owners were “essentially just professional fundraisers”. He called the 2025 contract “essentially my team’s death certificate”.46

A bearded man in a grey suit stands in a witness box speaking, an orange cup of water at his elbow
Hamlin, the first witness, called the 2025 contract his team's death certificate.

NASCAR’s lawyer, John Stephenson, answered on the first day with a question: “If charters are so bad, why do great businessmen keep buying and investing in them?”47

A lean silver-haired lawyer at a lectern spreads his hands wide as jurors watch from the jury box
NASCAR's lawyer asked the jury why businessmen keep buying charters.

Jenkins told the jury he had never made a profit from racing. “And it’s not from malpractice.” By his account, he had lost about $100 million at it since the early 2000s.48

A stocky man in a tan jacket leans towards a microphone in a witness box with both hands flat on the rail
Jenkins told the jury he had lost about $100 million in racing.

Jordan had agreed to pay $28 million for a charter a month before the deadline. Stephenson had asked why businessmen keep buying charters. Jordan gave the jury his own answer: “I’m pretty sure they know I love to win.”49

Of NASCAR’s chairman, Jordan added: “I never saw Jim France drive a car. I never saw Jim France risk his life.”50

A tall bald man in charcoal sits back in a witness box with his fingers laced while two jurors lean forward to listen
Jordan told the jury why he paid $28 million for a third charter.

Edward Snyder, the teams’ economist, claimed NASCAR had underpaid the two teams by about $365 million from 2021 to 2024. NASCAR disputed his figures.51 The law the teams sued under triples damages. So if the jury agreed, NASCAR could owe more than a billion dollars.52

A white-bearded man in a witness box takes off his orange reading glasses, one hand on a thick bound report
The teams' economist gave the jury his figure for the underpayment, which NASCAR disputed.

France was asked if he had changed his position on charters that never run out. He answered: “No, I have not.”53

An older man in glasses and a pale blue shirt listens to a man in a headset at a race track
Jim France, NASCAR's chairman, pictured at a race in 2019. Photo: Zach Catanzareti, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

NASCAR settles on day nine of the trial

On Thursday 11 December, day nine of the trial, Judge Bell sent the jurors out for an hour. He told them, as the site Racer reported: “Don’t get comfortable.”54

A grey-haired judge leans to his microphone at the bench as jurors in winter coats rise from their seats
On the morning of 11 December, the judge sent the jurors out for an hour.

The break lasted about ninety minutes.54 When the court sat again, Jeffrey Kessler, the lawyer for both teams, told the judge the two sides had settled “in a way that will benefit the industry going forward.”55

Michael Jordan, sitting in the public seats, put it more briefly: “Today’s a good day.”56

NASCAR had denied the teams’ claims, and the jury never reached a verdict, so no court found that NASCAR had broken the law.57

Seen from the gallery, a heavyset lawyer stands at the counsel table addressing the judge while the jury chairs sit empty
The lawyer for both teams told the judge the two sides had settled.

What the settlement gave Jordan’s team, and what NASCAR kept

On 15 February 2026, Tyler Reddick won the Daytona 500 in 23XI’s number 45. He won on the last lap, after contact with Chase Elliott. It was the team’s first win in that race.58

A smiling driver in sunglasses and a black and white race suit waves to the crowd under red stage lights
Tyler Reddick waves at driver introductions in Las Vegas in 2026. Photo: TaurusEmerald, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

In 2026, Jordan’s team runs three chartered cars, the 23, the 35 and the 45.59 What the fight cost or paid either side stays secret.13

Two hands strap shut a thick binder beside an open steel safe with a key in its door
The money terms of the settlement are confidential and will not be released.

Two days after France refused evergreen charters under oath, NASCAR’s own statement used the word, in quotation marks. Four words followed it: “subject to mutual agreement”.13

A stocky man in a tan jacket holds a pen above a closed folder at a desk, two stock cars visible through the window behind him
The statement promised evergreen charters, subject to mutual agreement.

The teams got the word evergreen. NASCAR can still refuse to renew a charter.60

A tall bald man in charcoal walks between three stock cars in a garage while a white-haired man watches from a window above
Jordan's team got its charters back, and NASCAR kept the final say.

Jordan’s team got its charters back, and NASCAR kept the final say.

Sources

  1. Associated Press via PBS NewsHour, “Michael Jordan testifies in NASCAR antitrust trial, saying someone had to step forward”, 5 December 2025: Jordan testified that 23XI bought a third charter for $28 million. Fox Sports’ summary of the court papers gives the same price for the Stewart-Haas charter. ↩

  2. Judge Kenneth Bell, order on NASCAR’s counterclaim, Western District of North Carolina, 28 October 2025: charters “guarantee entry into each race, a portion of NASCAR’s media revenue and other benefits”. ↩

  3. Daily Downforce, “NASCAR lawsuit reveals 23XI agreed to purchase a third charter for 2025”, quoting the teams’ complaint of 2 October 2024 (paragraph 35): the purchase agreement of 7 August 2024 “is still in escrow and requires approval from NASCAR”. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  4. Complaint, 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports v. NASCAR and James France, 2 October 2024, paragraph 1: “a case about the unlawful monopolization of premier stock car racing by the France family”. This is the teams’ allegation. At trial, the jury was asked whether NASCAR had kept its power as the sport’s only buyer of teams’ services through anticompetitive conduct (Courthouse News, 1 December 2025). ↩ ↩2

  5. Associated Press, “NASCAR antitrust trial: Bob Jenkins testifies about $100M loss and ‘insulting’ charter deal”, 4 December 2025: “NASCAR contends it is doing nothing wrong and has not restrained trade or commerce by its teams.” ↩

  6. Associated Press, 4 December 2025: “the 112-page document”; the complaint calls it “more than 100-page”. The purchase agreement is dated 7 August 2024 and the deadline fell on 6 September 2024, 30 days later. Fifteen teams held charters, per the court order of 28 October 2025. ↩

  7. Court order, 28 October 2025: the 2016 charters expired at the end of 2024. The teams’ demand for permanent charters and more of the revenue is set out in the complaint, paragraph 110, and in Jayski’s report of day seven of the trial, 9 December 2025. ↩

  8. Court order, 28 October 2025: NASCAR “told the Teams in the late afternoon to either sign its final proposal for the 2025 Charters by midnight that same day or lose their Charters”. Bob Jenkins testified that the offer came “at 6 p.m. on a Friday” with “six hours to sign the 112-page document” (AP, 4 December 2025). The complaint, paragraph 18, says the offer was sent at about 5 p.m. ↩

  9. Court order, 28 October 2025: thirteen of the fifteen teams signed the 2025 charter agreements that evening; only 23XI and Front Row did not. Joe Gibbs Racing was among the thirteen. ↩ ↩2

  10. Court order, 28 October 2025: the lawsuit was filed on 2 October 2024 in the Charlotte Division of the federal court, against NASCAR and James France. 6 September to 2 October 2024 is 26 days. ↩ ↩2

  11. Judge Kenneth Bell, order granting a preliminary injunction, December 2024: “23XI acquired a 2016 charter in 2020, and another in 2021.” NBC Sports, 9 December 2025: each team had two charters and “each purchased a third charter in late 2024”. ↩

  12. CBS News and the Associated Press, 11 December 2025, and Racer, 11 December 2025: the case settled on the ninth day of the trial (1 to 5 December and 8 to 10 December are eight court days; 11 December is the ninth). NASCAR joint statement, 11 December 2025: “The financial terms of the settlement are confidential and will not be released.” 2 October 2024 to 11 December 2025 is about fourteen months. ↩

  13. NASCAR joint statement, 11 December 2025: NASCAR will issue an amendment to existing charter holders “which will include a form of ‘evergreen’ charters, subject to mutual agreement. The financial terms of the settlement are confidential and will not be released.” ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  14. Associated Press via WCYB, “NASCAR chairman refuses to budge on team charters in testimony”, 9 December 2025: asked by the teams’ lawyer, Jeffrey Kessler, if he had changed his stance on making charters permanent, France said, “No, I have not.” 9 December to 11 December is two days. ↩

  15. Court order, 28 October 2025: charters were introduced in 2016, and chartered teams typically fill 36 of the 40 places in each Cup race. ↩

  16. Court order, 28 October 2025: a charter brings guaranteed entry and “a portion of NASCAR’s media revenue”. 40 places less 36 chartered leaves 4 for open entries. ↩

  17. Associated Press, 4 December 2025: “The series says the original charters were given for free to teams when the system was created in 2016.” This is NASCAR’s account. ↩

  18. Wikipedia, “Front Row Motorsports”: Jenkins became the sole owner in 2005. Associated Press, 4 December 2025: “a 2021 victory in the Daytona 500”. ↩

  19. Wikipedia, “Front Row Motorsports”: Jenkins owns more than 250 Yum! Brands franchises, among them KFC and Taco Bell restaurants. ↩

  20. Associated Press, 4 December 2025: “Hamlin and Jenkins have both testified it costs $20 million to bring a single car to the track for all 38 races.” Under cross-examination Jenkins accepted that $20 million was a median figure and that his own 2023 cost was about $14 million a car (Wikipedia, “23XI Racing v. NASCAR”, citing the New York Times). ↩

  21. Associated Press, 4 December 2025: the new agreement “upped the guaranteed money for every chartered car to $12.5 million in annual revenue, from $9 million.” ↩

  22. Associated Press, 4 December 2025: Hamlin and Jenkins testified that “teams are too reliant on outside sponsorship to survive.” AP via PBS, 5 December 2025: Joe Gibbs Racing “relies solely on outside sponsorship and investors to stay afloat.” ↩

  23. Wikipedia, “23XI Racing”: founded on 21 September 2020 by Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin. ↩

  24. AP via PBS, 5 December 2025: Joe Gibbs Racing “has 450 employees, charters for four Cup cars”. ↩

  25. Courthouse News, “Denny Hamlin opens NASCAR antitrust trial with emotional testimony”, 1 December 2025. ↩

  26. Court order, 28 October 2025: joint and individual negotiations ran from 2022 through 2024. ↩

  27. Daily Downforce, January 2026: an evergreen charter “protect[s] teams’ financial investments in buying these expensive charters”. The complaint, paragraph 110, says NASCAR’s final offer did not provide permanent charters. ↩

  28. Wikipedia, “23XI Racing v. NASCAR”, citing the New York Times, 3 December 2025: Hamlin testified that in 2023 he joined France at lunch during NASCAR Awards Week in Nashville. “He told me directly the problem in NASCAR is teams spend too much money,” Hamlin said, adding that France said teams should spend US$10 million a season to run their cars against the US$20 million average. Hamlin said it was not realistic to cut costs in half. This is Hamlin’s account. ↩ ↩2

  29. Racing News, “Michael Jordan texts exposed in a court hearing of NASCAR lawsuit”, 30 August 2025, reporting the Associated Press: Scott Prime wrote, “We have all the leverage and the teams will almost have to sign whatever terms we put in front of them.” The teams’ trial brief, October 2025 gives his title as Chief Strategy Officer. At trial, Prime said the line set out one of two paths, that he disagreed with it and pushed for a compromise with the teams (Wikipedia, “23XI Racing v. NASCAR”). ↩

  30. Wikipedia, “23XI Racing v. NASCAR”: Phelps wrote to Prime, “They are playing with fire.” Racing News, 30 August 2025: Phelps, then NASCAR’s president, texted, “pick a date and they (teams) can either sign or lose their charters. It is that simple.” ↩

  31. AP via WCYB, 9 December 2025: Kessler introduced a summary of notes from the first meeting of NASCAR executives on the negotiations; Steve O’Donnell, “now the president of NASCAR”, wrote: “Jim’s overarching comments”, followed by “we are in a competition. We are going to win.” The AP joins the two parts with a dash. ↩

  32. AP via PBS, 5 December 2025: Heather Gibbs: “It was like a gun to your head: if you don’t sign, you have nothing.” The same report gives Joe Gibbs Racing 450 employees. ↩

  33. Associated Press, 4 December 2025. ↩

  34. AP via Fox Sports, “Michael Jordan testifies in NASCAR antitrust trial, says he had no choice but to sue the entity”, 5 December 2025. ↩

  35. Court order, 28 October 2025: the preliminary injunction was granted on 18 December 2024. Sportsnaut, 24 December 2024: NASCAR agreed on Christmas Eve to let 23XI’s purchase of the Stewart-Haas charter go ahead while its appeal went on. ↩

  36. Sportsnaut, 24 December 2024: NASCAR was appealing Judge Bell’s orders to the Fourth Circuit, and the purchase could be reversed if NASCAR won. The $28 million is from AP via PBS, 5 December 2025. ↩

  37. Fourth Circuit opinion, 5 June 2025. NBC Sports, 5 June 2025: “A three-judge panel from the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously ruled to vacate the preliminary injunction”. The ruling dealt only with the injunction, and the case went on to trial. ↩

  38. Wikipedia, “23XI Racing v. NASCAR”, citing Motorsport.com, 17 July 2025: from the race at Dover in July, the Nos. 4, 23, 34, 35, 38 and 45 raced as open entries. ↩

  39. Indianapolis Motor Speedway, 27 July 2025: Wallace won in the No. 23 Toyota fielded by 23XI Racing “to snap a 100-race NASCAR Cup Series winless streak dating to fall 2022.” ↩

  40. Fox Sports, “What to know about the NASCAR antitrust lawsuit”: open teams earn less than a third of the money that goes to chartered cars. Bob Pockrass put an open car’s share at “about 20-30% of what a team normally would get” (Yardbarker). ↩

  41. Transcript of the hearing of Thursday 28 August 2025, Western District of North Carolina; Racing News, 30 August 2025. ↩

  42. Racing News, 30 August 2025: text message from Steve Lauletta, 23XI Racing’s president. ↩

  43. Racing News, 30 August 2025, reporting the Associated Press: warned about the financial impact of a lawsuit, Jordan replied, “I have lost that much in a casino.” ↩

  44. AP via Fox Sports, 11 December 2025: “CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP)”, with the trial begun on 1 December. ↩

  45. Courthouse News, 1 December 2025. ↩

  46. Wikipedia, “23XI Racing v. NASCAR”, citing the New York Times: Hamlin told the jury owners are “essentially just professional fundraisers”, and said of the 2025 agreements, “This is essentially my team’s death certificate for the future.” ↩

  47. Wikipedia, “23XI Racing v. NASCAR”, on NASCAR’s opening statement: “If charters are so bad, why do great businessmen keep buying and investing in them?” Stephenson also told the jury that NASCAR had paid teams every penny owed to them under the 2016 agreements (Courthouse News, 1 December 2025). ↩

  48. Associated Press, 4 December 2025: “And it’s not from malpractice”, and he “has lost $100 million since becoming a team owner in the early 2000s”. ↩

  49. AP via Fox Sports, 5 December 2025. The purchase agreement of 7 August 2024 came 30 days before the deadline of 6 September. ↩

  50. AP via PBS, 5 December 2025. ↩

  51. NBC Sports and the Associated Press, “Economist says NASCAR owes $364.7M to teams in antitrust case”, 9 December 2025: $364.7 million in all, $215.8 million to 23XI and $148.9 million to Front Row, for 2021 to 2024, rounded here to $365 million. “NASCAR contends Snyder’s estimations are wrong”, and its own experts “take serious issue” with his findings. ↩

  52. US antitrust law trebles damages. $364.7 million times three is $1,094.1 million. This is arithmetic on the teams’ claim; no party put this figure to the jury. ↩

  53. AP via WCYB, 9 December 2025: “Asked by plaintiffs’ attorney Jeffrey Kessler if he has changed his stance on making charters permanent, France said, ‘No, I have not.’” ↩

  54. Racer, 11 December 2025: Judge Bell’s words to the jurors that morning, and the length of the break. Racer is the only source for the judge’s wording. ↩ ↩2

  55. Sportico, December 2025, and CBS News and the Associated Press, 11 December 2025: Kessler to the court. ↩

  56. AP via Fox Sports, 11 December 2025: “‘Today’s a good day,’ Jordan said from the front-row seat he’s occupied since the trial began Dec. 1”. ↩

  57. Associated Press, 4 December 2025: “NASCAR contends it is doing nothing wrong”. Fox Sports, “What to know about the NASCAR antitrust lawsuit”: the jury was dismissed as the settlement was announced, before any verdict. ↩

  58. Associated Press via ABC7, 15 February 2026: Reddick won “when Chase Elliott crashed as he and Reddick were battling for the win” on the final lap, and Jordan and Hamlin “got their first Daytona 500 victory”. NASCAR race recap, 15 February 2026: Reddick “muscled his way past Chase Elliott” in the No. 45. ↩

  59. Wikipedia, “23XI Racing”: the Nos. 23, 35 and 45 are chartered in 2026. AP via Fox Sports, 11 December 2025: “23XI and Front Row will receive their combined six charters back for 2026.” ↩

  60. NASCAR joint statement, 11 December 2025: the evergreen charters are “subject to mutual agreement”, so a renewal needs NASCAR’s agreement as well as the team’s. ↩