{"id":399994,"date":"2026-01-10T06:52:19","date_gmt":"2026-01-10T06:52:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/399994\/"},"modified":"2026-01-10T06:52:19","modified_gmt":"2026-01-10T06:52:19","slug":"nascar-commissioner-steve-phelps-resigns-after-inflammatory-texts-revealed-in-trial-7","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/399994\/","title":{"rendered":"NASCAR commissioner Steve Phelps resigns after inflammatory texts revealed in trial"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Nascar<\/a><\/p>\n

FILE \u2013 NASCAR president Steve Phelps announces the inductees to the 2025 NASCAR Hall of Fame class, Tuesday, May 21, 2024, in Charlotte, N.C. (AP Photo\/Matt Kelley, File)<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

(AP) \u2014 The fallout from NASCAR\u2019s federal antitrust trial continued into the new year as NASCAR Commissioner Steve Phelps on Tuesday announced his resignation after more than 20 years with the top racing series in the United States.<\/p>\n

His resignation comes after last month\u2019s trial in which inflammatory texts Phelps sent during contentious revenue-sharing negotiations were revealed. Phelps will leave the company at the end of the month, ahead of the start of the first exhibition race of the season on Feb. 1.<\/p>\n

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 and Phelps testified he pulled out of consideration for that role upon the NASCAR promotion from president.<\/p>\n

The top executive at NASCAR was deeply bruised during the trial \u2014 and the\u00a0discovery process leading into it<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 when communications he exchanged with his leadership team 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

That led Bass Pro Shops founder Johnny Morris, an ardent supporter of both NASCAR and Richard Childress Racing, to\u00a0write a damning letter demanding Phelps\u2019 removal as commissioner.<\/a><\/p>\n

After he concluded his testimony in the nine-day trial last month, Phelps left the stand with his jaw clenched, his face red, and he made no eye contact with NASCAR\u2019s owners as he briskly headed directly out of the courtroom. His fianc\u00e9e trailed after him as he even refused to look in her direction.<\/p>\n

NASCAR settled the lawsuit<\/a>\u00a0with 23XI Racing, owned by Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin, and Front Row Motorsports, owned by Bob Jenkins, the day after Morris\u2019 letter went public and two days after Phelps\u2019 testimony.<\/p>\n

\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

\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

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

He also thanked the France family, the founders and owners of NASCAR, who hired him away from the NFL two decades ago and promoted him to a position that could have netted him $5 million annually with bonuses.<\/p>\n

\u201cWords cannot fully convey the deep appreciation I have for this life-changing experience, for the trust of the France family, and for having a place in NASCAR\u2019s amazing history,\u201d Phelps concluded.<\/p>\n

Phelps is a native of Vermont, where as a child he became a fan of local racing. He graduated from both the University of Vermont, where he set the school record in the 800 meters, and Boston College, where he earned a masters in business administration.<\/p>\n

NASCAR thanks Phelps for leadership<\/p>\n

NASCAR said that Phelps\u2019 leadership transformed a stale schedule with new events, \u201cbucket list fan experiences,\u201d and reshaped its strategic vision. Phelps was also lauded for expanding NASCAR\u2019s international footprint, securing long-term media rights and charter agreements, and building a leadership team that is focused on building the future of stock car racing with fan experience at its core.<\/p>\n

\u201cSteve will forever be remembered as one of NASCAR\u2019s most impactful leaders,\u201d said Jim France, the NASCAR Chairman and CEO. \u201cFor decades he has worked tirelessly to thrill fans, support teams and execute a vision for the sport that has treated us all to some of the greatest moments in our nearly 80-year history.\u201d<\/p>\n

Phelps also led NASCAR as it became the first sport to return to competition during the COVID-19 shutdown, as well as developing races inside the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and the downtown streets of Chicago.<\/p>\n

\u201cSteve leaves NASCAR with a transformative legacy of innovation and collaboration with an unrelenting growth mindset,\u201d France added.<\/p>\n

Lesa France Kennedy, the NASCAR executive vice chair, said \u201cwhile his career may take him elsewhere, he\u2019ll always have a place in our NASCAR family.\u201d<\/p>\n

NASCAR did not announce any additional leadership or personnel changes and said there are no immediate plans to replace him as commissioner or to seek outside leadership. His responsibilities will be delegated internally through NASCAR\u2019s president \u2014 now Steve O\u2019Donnell \u2014 and the executive leadership team.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Donnell moved into Phelps\u2019 role as president upon Phelps\u2019 promotion to commissioner. Although the two were mostly in favor of improving revenue-sharing for the teams in over two-plus years of bitter negotiations, the discovery process showed their growing frustration with NASCAR\u2019s board of directors over its refusal to make the charters permanent.<\/p>\n

The Childress texts<\/p>\n

Phelps appeared to be an advocate for more concessions for the race teams, but as the process dragged on, he ultimately\u00a0fell in line with the France family<\/a>\u00a0and that\u2019s when his communications became more pointed. He testified he felt the teams had received a fair deal on the new charter agreements.<\/p>\n

But it was the attacks on Childress that drew the most attention and Phelps said in court he regretted his words, had apologized to Childress and explained he was venting out of frustration.<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t good enough for Morris, a longtime backer of Childress teams.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can\u2019t help but wonder what would happen if Major League Baseball brought in a new commissioner and he or she trash-talked one of the true legends who built the game like Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Ted Williams, Mickey Mantle or Babe Ruth?\u201d Morris wrote. \u201cSuch blatant disrespect would probably not sit well with the fans \u2014 such a commissioner most likely wouldn\u2019t, or shouldn\u2019t, keep his or her job for very long!\u201d\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FILE \u2013 NASCAR president Steve Phelps announces the inductees to the 2025 NASCAR Hall of Fame class, Tuesday,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":399995,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[446],"tags":[49,48,634,168779,166352,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-399994","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-nascar","11":"tag-nascar-commissioner","12":"tag-nascar-commissioner-steve-phelps","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/399994","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=399994"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/399994\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/399995"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=399994"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=399994"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=399994"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}