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12/08 08:28 CST Richard Childress to testify in NASCAR antitrust trial amid
derogatory texts and revenue dispute
Richard Childress to testify in NASCAR antitrust trial amid derogatory texts
and revenue dispute
By JENNA FRYER
AP Auto Racing Writer
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) --- NASCAR Hall of Fame team owner Richard Childress could
be called to the witness stand as early as Monday in the federal antitrust suit
lodged against the top motorsports series in the United States. Childress'
testimony should shed more light on the animosity between teams and series
executives during the contentious two-plus years of negotiations on a new
revenue sharing agreement.
Childress was the subject of derogatory text messages in which NASCAR
Commissioner Steve Phelps called the six-time championship-winning owner a
redneck who "needs to be taken out back and flogged."
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
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