Denny Hamlin, the NASCAR driver and co-owner of 23XI Racing with Michael Jordan, returned to the witness stand on Day 2 of the NASCAR antitrust trial. From their own attorney, Hamlin fielded a question that cuts to the heart of the federal lawsuit.
Was it a hard decision not to sign the charter agreement this year?
The costly charter agreements guarantee teams a spot in the Cup Series races and a portion of NASCAR’s revenue. But 23XI Racing called the terms a take-it-or-leave-it-deal and, along with Front Row Motorsports, refused in 2024 to sign the last charter agreement.
“I don’t sign because I know that this is essentially my death certificate for the future,’’ said Hamlin, the three-time Daytona 500 winner.
Did he think it was the right decision?
“I think it was the only decision,’’ he said.
It was a decision that ultimately led to the antitrust trial that could reshape or damage the current state of stock car racing.
Hamlin’s testimony was among the highlights in the federal courtroom Tuesday, Dec. 2 in Charlotte, North Carolina, where the case is being heard. Jeff Gluck of The Athletic wrote of the testimony that lasted about four hours over two days, ‘It was extremely bitter and emotionally charged, as Hamlin’s anger toward NASCAR was on full display.”According to the Associated Press, Hamlin was asked why on podcast appearances he paints a rosier picture of NASCAR?
“You can take all my things out of context and paint a picture that everything is fine,” Hamlin said, according to the Associated Press. “The reality is, (being) negative affects me in (technical inspection), getting called to the hauler, NASCAR not liking what I said.”
Hamlin also tried to explain texts on possibly selling part of his share of the team, according to Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports, who of Hamlin’s explanations wrote on X, ‘He said at one point he was frustrated and needed to get the ownership group attention. And long term he would want to sell to make money, that’s business 101.’
NASCAR executive takes stand
Scott Prime, Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer for NASCAR, took the stand Tuesday.
FOX Sports’ Pockrass wrote on X that Prime was ‘being grilled by 23XI atty Jeffrey Kessler on early charter negotiation strategy” and his and NASCAR President Steve O’Donnell’s reaction to LIV Golf and early team negotiating demands.’
Adam Stern of the Sports Business Journal wrote, ‘(Kessler) said NASCAR’s actions and internal messages show its executives tried to ward off potential competition and had taken note of how LIV Golf was disrupting golf. The teams charge that NASCAR did this through actions such as tying up tracks with onerous exclusivity agreements, underpaying teams and putting intellectual property patents on its race cars to make them unusable elsewhere.’
NASCAR finances
Jenna Fryer of the Associated Press filed a report with revealing financial figures that offer context in the court case.
$20 million: How much Hamlin said it costs a year to run one race car a year, while NASCAR CEO Jim France said it should cost only $10 million a year.
$100 million: How much Hamlin said he and Jordan have spent building 23XI Racing since it was founded in September 2020.
$100 million: NASCAR made slightly more than that during 2024, according to the pretrial discovery process. It’s also the amount Front Row Motorsports has lost since it started in 2004, according to team owner Bob Jenkins, whose team is a plaintiff in the case.
$5 billion: The value of NASCAR based on a 2023 evaluation by Goldman Sachs, according to attorney Jeffrey Kessler, who represents 23XI Racing.