CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The antitrust lawsuit against NASCAR is already dragging along at a snail’s pace. Only two witnesses hit the stand on Tuesday, the second day of the trial.
NASCAR Cup Series driver Denny Hamlin, who co-owns 23XI Racing with Michael Jordan returned to the stand for the second day. 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports filed the antitrust lawsuit against the sanctioning body after choosing not to sign the NASCAR charter agreement last October.
Hamlin was cross examined for more than three hours to start the day with NASCAR attorneys trying to find weaknesses in his statements.
As part of the testimony, Hamlin said he makes approximately $14 million annually as one of the top drivers in the sport (racing for Joe Gibbs Racing). He also acknowledged as a 40-percent owner of 23XI Racing he has invested $45 million between $10 million in cash and in loans.
There was plenty of back and forth between Hamlin and NASCAR attorney Lawrence Buterman, which became contentious at times.
In the afternoon, NASCAR Executive Vice President Scott Prime, who worked on the charter agreement negotiations with NASCAR lead executives Steve Phelps and Steve O’Donnell took the stand.
Much of the testimony was in regard to texts and emails that were released several weeks ago in regard to frustration regarding the negotiations of the charter deal among NASCAR executives. It was the first time the jury had seen and heard them.
Also covered during Prime’s testimony were NASCAR’s efforts to keep its tracks from holding races for the now-defunct SRX racing series and the organization’s contingency plan in the event that teams did not sign the charter agreement.
Court resumes Wednesday morning with Prime on the stand for cross examination.
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