CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Steve O’Donnell acknowledged that NASCAR has lost millions of dollars going to some new tracks in recent seasons, but he testified that he views this as an investment in the future of the sport.

Taking the Cup Series to new tracks instead of the standard locations like Chicagoland Speedway are a way to grow the sport through new fans.

According to O’Donnell, Amazon told NASCAR that “there was no way we would have engaged with the sport without” the Chicago Street Race, which actually aired on NBC Sports channels two years and TNT Sports one year.

This event, O’Donnell said, caused NASCAR to lose $55 million combined over the three-year deal with the City of Chicago. He also said it convinced Amazon to join the broadcast lineup while taking the TV deal over $1 billion.

O’Donnell made these comments on Thursday while spending approximately 4 hours and 45 minutes on the witness stand as part of an antitrust lawsuit trial between 23XI Racing/Front Row Motorsports and NASCAR. These two teams filed an antitrust lawsuit in 2024 alleging that NASCAR and CEO Jim France have maintained an illegal monopoly through anti-competitive acts while enriching the France family.

Plaintiffs’ lead attorney Jeffrey Kessler and NASCAR attorney Christopher Yates both focused on financial details of races during the extended session, albeit for different reasons.

Kessler aimed to show that a new competitor could not pay millions of dollars to race in some of these markets due to NASCAR locking up the best tracks through exclusivity agreements. Yates potentially aimed to show that NASCAR is willing to spend countless amounts of money on the sport. He even asked if teams had invested any money in the tracks, to which O’Donnell said, “no.”

The Chicago Street Race is far from the only project in NASCAR’s history that has cost millions of dollars, according to O’Donnell’s testimony. He said that the trip to Mexico City cost NASCAR $6 million last year and that the NASCAR Mexico Series loses money.

Says they lost $6 million on Mexico City and $55 million on Chicago over three years. Says Chicago is the reason Amazon jumped on board as a broadcast partner, so OD called this $55 million loss an investment.

— John Newby (@JohnNewby_) December 4, 2025

O’Donnell indicated during his testimony that the Mexico City race can help grow the fanbase in Mexico. He pointed to Daniel Suarez’s rise through the NASCAR ranks and how they want to see similar stories when discussing the Mexico Series.

The NASCAR president then said that the Clash at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum cost $13 million over three years, but it also “was huge” in Fox Sports agreeing to be part of the new TV deal lasting from 2025 to 2031. He then indicated that the inaugural race on Naval Base Coronado next year will be a big investment, but he did not provide further details.

Yates asked how the board of directors responded to O’Donnell and EVP and Chief Venue and Racing Innovation Officer Ben Kennedy suggesting that they take races away from NASCAR-owned tracks such as Chicagoland and move them to new locations requiring millions of dollars of investments.

O’Donnell said that CEO and Chairman Jim France looked at them like they are crazy. However, he indicated that the board still approved the moves over and over.

“NASCAR looks at, ‘How do we grow the sport,'” O’Donnell testified.

Yates pushed further on the “investment” topic while focusing on multiple topics. First, he asked about building and renovating two superspeedways — Daytona International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway. He then asked about building and renovating Phoenix Raceway.

O’Donnell testified that the France family took out a loan to renovate Talladega and that the family didn’t know if it could actually pay it back. He said that “Luckily, some bonds came through.”

According to O’Donnell, NASCAR has invested probably close to $1 billion to make upgrade at tracks on the Cup Series schedule. Neither he nor the defense attorneys had any exact numbers to share with jurors.

Yates also looked at the NASCAR Production Facility during his time doing the cross-examination of O’Donnell. He asked for the cost to build this new facility in Concord, North Carolina, which NASCAR uses to produce multimedia content, hold events, and conduct remote race control among other things.

O’Donnell testified that the price of the NASCAR Production Facility was $60-70 million. He added that they used it for podcasts, the “Earnhardt” documentary on Prime Video, and the “NASCAR: Full Speed” series on Netflix.

The NASCAR president will return to the witness stand on Friday at 9 a.m. for more cross-examination from NASCAR’s attorney. Jeffrey Kessler will then do direct examination of O’Donnell on behalf of 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports.