{"id":393660,"date":"2026-01-07T10:13:18","date_gmt":"2026-01-07T10:13:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/393660\/"},"modified":"2026-01-07T10:13:18","modified_gmt":"2026-01-07T10:13:18","slug":"nascar-commissioner-steve-phelps-resigns-after-shocking-texts-revealed-in-michael-jordan-trial","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/393660\/","title":{"rendered":"NASCAR commissioner Steve Phelps resigns after shocking texts revealed in Michael Jordan trial"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>CHARLOTTE, N.C. \u2014 NASCAR Commissioner Steve Phelps on Tuesday announced his resignation after more than 20 years with the top racing series in the United States and a nasty federal trial in which inflammatory texts he sent during contentious revenue-sharing negotiations were revealed.<\/p>\n<p>Phelps will leave the company at the end of the month, ahead of the start of the season. He was named NASCAR\u2019s first commissioner last season after a courting process for the same role by the PGA golf tour. The opportunity with the PGA was revealed during December testimony of the antitrust trial brought by two race teams against NASCAR.<\/p>\n<p>But the top executive at NASCAR was deeply bruised during the trial \u2014 and the discovery process leading into it \u2014 when communications he exchanged with top leadership was exposed. In one exchange, Phelps called Hall of Fame team owner Richard Childress \u201ca stupid redneck\u201d who \u201cneeds to be taken out back and flogged.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img style=\"aspect-ratio:1.49926794;display:block\" fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" data-modal-image=\"38107095\" width=\"885\" height=\"590\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/nascar-commissioner-steve-phelps-speaks-114545644.jpg\" alt=\"Steve Phelps resigned as NASCAR commissioner on Tuesday.\" class=\"wp-image-38107095\"  \/>Steve Phelps resigned as NASCAR commissioner on Tuesday. Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>That led Bass Pro Shops founder Johnny Morris, an ardent supporter of both NASCAR and Richard Childress Racing, to write a letter demanding Phelps\u2019 removal as commissioner.<\/p>\n<p>NASCAR settled the lawsuit with 23XI Racing, owned by Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin, and Front Row Motorsports, owned by Bob Jenkins, the day after Morris\u2019 letter.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs a lifelong race fan, it gives me immense pride to have served as NASCAR\u2019s first Commissioner and to lead our great sport through so many incredible challenges, opportunities and firsts over my 20 years,\u201d Phelps said in a statement. \u201cOur sport is built on the passion of our fans, the dedication of our teams and partners, and the commitment of our wonderful employees.<\/p>\n<p><img style=\"aspect-ratio:1.49926794;display:block\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-modal-image=\"38107094\" width=\"885\" height=\"590\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/2025-outside-federal-courthouse-charlotte-117155722.jpg\" alt=\"Michael Jordan (c.) speaks outside the federal courthouse in Charlotte after NASCAR settled an antitrust lawsuit on Dec. 11, 2025.\" class=\"wp-image-38107094\"  \/>Michael Jordan (c.) speaks outside the federal courthouse in Charlotte after NASCAR settled an antitrust lawsuit on Dec. 11, 2025. AP<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt has been an honor to help synthesize the enthusiasm of long-standing NASCAR stakeholders with that of new entrants to our ecosystem, such as media partners, auto manufacturers, track operators, and incredible racing talent.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He added he will seek \u201cnew pursuits in sports and other industries\u201d and thanked colleagues, friends and fans that \u201cplayed such an important and motivational role in my career.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CHARLOTTE, N.C. \u2014 NASCAR Commissioner Steve Phelps on Tuesday announced his resignation after more than 20 years with&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":393661,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[446],"tags":[49,48,3004,634,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-393660","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-michael-jordan","11":"tag-nascar","12":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/393660","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=393660"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/393660\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/393661"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=393660"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=393660"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=393660"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}