Michael Jordan<\/a> and Curtis Polk, paid $700,000 to the Cup Series in 2022 alone (for entry fees, credentials, internet access etc. ), per AP.<\/p>\n![\"2024](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/0_2024-NASCAR-Banquet.jpg\")
Hamlin had previously taken aim at NASCAR chairman Jim France(Image: Getty)<\/p>\n
In a scathing criticism of the 2024 charter agreement, which neither 23XI nor FRM signed, Hamlin stated that agreeing to it would have been equivalent to signing his “death certificate.”<\/p>\n
During cross-examination, Hamlin delved into the financial details of 23XI, revealing that he and NBA legend Jordan have already shelled out $100 million to establish 23XI from scratch, and how “all it takes is one sponsor to go away and all our profit is gone.”<\/p>\n
It appears Hamlin had shared these financial worries with NASCAR chairman Jim France, son of NASCAR’s co-founder, Bill France Sr. , suggesting to the 81 year old that cars should cost no more than $10 million, as opposed to the current $10 million price tag.<\/p>\n
“We cannot cut more. Tell me how to get my investment back? He had no answer,” the JGR driver further commented.<\/p>\n
This might shed light on a previous message from Hamlin that surfaced, where he stated, “My despise for the France family runs deep.”<\/p>\n
Adding fuel to this feud, another message from Hamlin from 2022 recently came to light, in which he expressed, “Jim doesn’t really value the current owners of our sport and what we bring.<\/p>\n
“He believes that NASCAR itself is the show. He made a point to say that we have to continue to give OEMs tremendous value because they help support the teams.<\/p>\n
“I honestly don’t think he understands that every teams OEM deal is different. I told him our 15M number is WITH OEM engine support. In the end he just wants someone else to pay our bills, NOT NASCAR.”<\/p>\n
In a harsh critique, Hamlin stated: “my belief that Jim actually believes we should be working out of Bo’s garage with 20 people. He genuinely believes that its 1960. I don’t believe he values what healthy teams means to the value of NASCAR itself.”<\/p>\n
Back at the trial, Hamlin revealed that NASCAR’s final peace offering to the two holdouts “had eight points minimum that needed to be changed. When we pointed that out, we were told, ‘Negotiations are closed.'” NASCAR not only grappled with tough charter negotiations in 2024 but also ended up signing a massive $7.7 billion broadcasting rights deal through 2031.<\/p>\n
“I didn’t sign because I knew this was my death certificate for the future,” Hamlin elaborated, adding, “I have spent 20 years trying to make this sport grow as a driver and for the last five years as a team owner. 23XI is doing our part.<\/p>\n
“You can’t have someone treat you this unfairly, and I knew it wasn’t right. They were wrong, and someone needed to be held accountable.”<\/p>\n
With Hamlin’s testimony concluded, he’ll need to exit the courtroom, as only Jordan, their designated representative, is allowed to stay at all times, per NASCAR’s request.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Denny Hamlin testified Tuesday in 23XI Racing’s antitrust lawsuit against NASCAR 15:28 ET, 02 Dec 2025Updated 15:28 ET,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":321347,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[446],"tags":[49,48,3932,3004,634,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-321346","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nascar","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-denny-hamlin","11":"tag-michael-jordan","12":"tag-nascar","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/321346","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=321346"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/321346\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/321347"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=321346"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=321346"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=321346"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Denny](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/0_NASCAR-Cup-Series-Championship.jpg\")
Denny Hamlin spent 3 1\/2 hours on the stand on Tuesday (Image: James Gilbert, Getty Images)<\/p>\n