{"id":340140,"date":"2025-12-10T02:14:09","date_gmt":"2025-12-10T02:14:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/340140\/"},"modified":"2025-12-10T02:14:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-10T02:14:09","slug":"nascar-chairman-jim-france-team-owner-richard-childress-testify-on-day-7-of-trial","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/340140\/","title":{"rendered":"NASCAR chairman Jim France, team owner Richard Childress testify on Day 7 of trial"},"content":{"rendered":"

CHARLOTTE, N.C. \u2014 Some of Jim France\u2019s closest friends in racing begged him for permanent charters, hoping for a better deal as NASCAR\u2019s team owners negotiated with the 81-year-old NASCAR chairman and CEO.<\/p>\n

France wouldn\u2019t budge.<\/p>\n

Despite heartfelt letters from motorsports titans like Rick Hendrick, Roger Penske, Joe Gibbs and Jack Roush, underlining the need for franchise-like charters to sustain their struggling race teams, France never gave the slightest hint of making a concession, it was revealed Tuesday during the NASCAR antitrust lawsuit<\/a> in a Charlotte federal court.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re all telling you they need permanent charters \u2014 and you said no,\u201d attorney Jeffrey Kessler said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe did not do evergreen or permanent charters, no,\u201d France replied.<\/p>\n

France, the final witness called by Kessler \u2014 who represents Michael Jordan\u2019s 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports, the two teams who refused to sign the latest charter deal that is at the heart of this dispute and instead decided to sue NASCAR and France \u2014 was set up to give crucial testimony in a trial that had been building to this moment.<\/p>\n

France is personally named in the suit, and the plaintiffs have been building a case through witness after witness that France is the ultimate decision-maker who was a \u201cbrick wall\u201d despite his executives\u2019 pleadings to find a middle ground with the teams.<\/p>\n

Though France claimed he was just \u201cinvolved in decisions\u201d and said NASCAR\u2019s board \u201chas the ability to override me,\u201d he was unable to name one instance when that happened.<\/p>\n

And to be sure, the prevailing perception among teams and NASCAR employees is that France is the person in charge.<\/p>\n

France acknowledged he was the person who wanted a Sept. 6, 2024, deadline for the teams to sign the charter agreements or lose them.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we didn\u2019t have the charters (signed), we wouldn\u2019t have the charters,\u201d he said. \u201c\u2026 I knew we needed to get them signed.\u201d<\/p>\n

But France said he remembered little else from the points Kessler raised with him. He did not recall specific meetings, including meetings in which he acknowledged being an active participant.<\/p>\n

In several instances, he denied making certain statements to which the jury has already heard testimony and said he could not remember others (though he did not have reason to doubt the accuracy of the testimony, he said).<\/p>\n

For example: Joe Gibbs Racing co-owner Heather Gibbs testified Friday<\/a> that France was cold while speaking to Joe Gibbs in a last-minute call before the charter deadline. She said Gibbs begged France, \u201cDon\u2019t do this to us!\u201d and France responded, \u201cIf I wake up and I have (only) 20 charters (signed), I have 20.\u201d<\/p>\n

But France said he did not remember Gibbs saying that and claimed he didn\u2019t think he would have made a comment like that to Gibbs in response.<\/p>\n

He also said there was nothing upsetting about a heartfelt letter Heather Gibbs sent, which NASCAR president Steve O\u2019Donnell said, in a message to a fellow league executive, drew an angry verbal reaction as France read it aloud. (O\u2019Donnell walked that back in testimony this week, saying he was exaggerating.)<\/p>\n

Kessler went paragraph by paragraph of the letter and France said none of it made him angry, and said he also did not recall reading a letter out loud.<\/p>\n

He also said he did not remember a 2021 strategy kickoff meeting for the charter negotiation meetings in which O\u2019Donnell wrote in an email to other executives: \u201cJim\u2019s over-arching comment: WE ARE IN COMPETITION. WE ARE GOING TO WIN.\u201d<\/p>\n

France was also unable to recall whether he knew about NASCAR\u2019s $5 billion valuation from Goldman Sachs, had no memory of discussing NASCAR\u2019s exclusive agreements with racetracks, and said he did not know about NASCAR\u2019s revenue or his own exact salary as CEO.<\/p>\n

That salary, he said, was in the $3.5 million per year range \u2014 on top of \u201chundreds of millions\u201d of dollars his France family trust has received in the last four years.<\/p>\n

France\u2019s side of the family owns 54.4 percent of NASCAR, and his niece Lesa France Kennedy\u2019s side owns 45.3 percent.<\/p>\n

France\u2019s testimony is set to conclude Wednesday morning.<\/p>\n

Richard Childress: \u2018I can\u2019t lose my charters\u2019\"Richard<\/p>\n

\n Richard Childress, owner of Richard Childress Racing, said he was pressured into signing the charters on Sept. 6, because the alternative was going out of business. (Krista Jasso \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Prior to France\u2019s appearance on the witness stand Tuesday afternoon, team owner Richard Childress told the jury how his race team would go broke if it wasn\u2019t for his other successful businesses making enough to pay for his NASCAR losses.<\/p>\n

The six-time champion car owner, who used to own Dale Earnhardt\u2019s No. 3, also pleaded with France for permanent charters in a letter and said the lack of them put his team\u2019s future in doubt. Holding a charter guarantees entry into races and certain revenues to owners.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would love to see RCR running 60 years from now, but with this model, we can\u2019t do it,\u201d Childress said.<\/p>\n

Childress testified he asked France several times in person about the charters becoming permanent or auto-renewing, but said France told him: \u201cWe don\u2019t know where the sport is going to be in seven years\u201d regarding the media rights revenue.<\/p>\n

Childress said he was pressured into signing the charters on Sept. 6, even though he didn\u2019t want to, because the alternative was going out of business.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey told us we had until (midnight) or you lose \u2019em,\u201d Childress said. \u201cFinancially, I can\u2019t lose my charters.\u201d<\/p>\n

The charter system is a positive for teams, Childress indicated, but the agreement itself is what\u2019s bad in his view. In total, 13 teams signed the agreement<\/a>, with 23XI and Front Row the only holdouts.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s nothing where it should be compared to the blood, sweat and tears we\u2019ve put into it,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s keeping us alive is all it\u2019s doing right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Childress\u2019 appearance came shortly after inflammatory text messages sent by NASCAR commissioner Steve Phelps were unearthed during the discovery process in advance of the trial. In the text messages, Phelps told another high-level NASCAR executive that Childress should be \u201ctaken out back and flogged\u201d and called him a \u201cstupid redneck who owes his entire fortune to NASCAR.\u201d The remarks stemmed from critical comments Childress made about the costs associated with the NASCAR-mandated Next Gen car during a radio interview.<\/p>\n

After Phelps\u2019 texts became public, RCR said it was considering legal action<\/a>. Phelps\u2019 remarks cannot be entered into evidence, the presiding judge, Kenneth D. Bell ruled.<\/p>\n

Phelps disputes \u2018take-it-or-leave-it\u2019 offer\"Steve<\/p>\n

\n NASCAR commissioner Steve Phelps. (Jared C. Tilton \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Earlier Tuesday, NASCAR commissioner Steve Phelps denied giving teams a much-discussed take-it-or-leave-it deadline to extend a charter agreement, calling the assertion \u201cunfair\u201d during his testimony.<\/p>\n

Phelps had been presented with an email in which he wrote there were \u201clots of options, but all have the same theme: Pick a date and they can sign or lose their charters. It is that simple.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are playing with fire,\u201d Phelps had written regarding the teams.<\/p>\n

But Phelps, the self-described \u201chead negotiator\u201d for the charter deal said it was \u201cabsolutely not\u201d true to characterize the Sept. 6, 2024, deadline as a monopolist using its power to bully the teams into signing.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is not what happened,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll let the jury decide,\u201d Kessler said.<\/p>\n

Phelps said NASCAR had made \u201csignificant movement\u201d from its earlier drafts of the deal and told the jury he personally had made it known to every team that Sept. 6 would be the deadline one week earlier.<\/p>\n

Phelps was asked if it was true France was \u201cvery concerned about maintaining power over the teams,\u201d which he denied.<\/p>\n

\u201cShould they just trust him to be a benevolent dictator?\u201d Kessler asked. \u201cIs that your view?\u201d<\/p>\n

The defense objected, and Phelps was not required to answer.<\/p>\n

Otherwise, Phelps repeatedly said he did not remember or recall various moments Kessler tried to flag as central to the issue of whether NASCAR violated antitrust law.<\/p>\n

Phelps said he had \u201cno idea\u201d how or why exclusivity clauses were placed into track sanctioning agreements beginning in 2016. He had no recollection of a 2015 email discussing the race teams\u2019 plan to run their own event (something NASCAR strongly discouraged and vowed to fight), nor did he remember seeing an email from Speedway Motorsports owner Marcus Smith, expressing agreement for his track company to \u201creject other competitor series that may present themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

Phelps also had no memory telling Hendrick, \u201cWe wish we could give you permanent charters, but Jim doesn\u2019t want that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t deny doing it, but I don\u2019t remember,\u201d Phelps said.<\/p>\n

Nor could he remember receiving an email from an International Speedway Corp. (ISC) executive flagging a 2016 ESPN.com article that unearthed the track exclusivity agreements, or a 2019 email from Roush Fenway Racing pleading for better financial terms from NASCAR.<\/p>\n

Phelps also said he did not remember a 2020 meeting of NASCAR\u2019s executive team, which discussed the threat of a series that eventually became known as SRX, short for Superstar Racing Experience.<\/p>\n

But Phelps did recall being \u201cconcerned\u201d about SRX \u201cright out of the gate\u201d and later texted fellow NASCAR executives that SRX \u201ccould turn into LIV if we don\u2019t play our cards right,\u201d a reference to LIV Golf, a breakaway circuit from the PGA Tour.<\/p>\n

\u201cNeed to put a knife in this trash series,\u201d he wrote in a later text.<\/p>\n

Phelps explained his text messages by saying he was \u201cfrustrated our (team) owners were racing in a series using sponsors and colors and liveries that looked a lot like NASCAR.\u201d He said NBC Sports executive producer Sam Flood complained to NASCAR that SRX was causing marketplace confusion.<\/p>\n

But when NASCAR\u2019s lawyers looked into potential violations, they found there was no infringement on NASCAR\u2019s intellectual property.<\/p>\n

Phelps, who acknowledged his compensation package from NASCAR is worth as much as $5 million per year, was asked about nearly $400 million being paid to the NASCAR-owning France family from 2021-24. Phelps said his understanding was $300 million of that was used to pay taxes, but later said he was unsure if that meant NASCAR\u2019s taxes or the France family\u2019s taxes.<\/p>\n

Regarding the race teams\u2019 initial request to be paid $720 million per year \u2014 enough to cover the estimated $20 million annual baseline costs per car \u2014 Phelps said that sum would have left NASCAR \u201cbankrupt.\u201d (NASCAR is paying the teams $431 million instead.)<\/p>\n

\u201cThe sport would cease to exist,\u201d Phelps said of the $720 million sum.<\/p>\n

He called the charter agreement disputes \u201cone of the most challenging and the longest negotiation I\u2019ve ever been part of\u201d but said his goal had been \u201cto get it done\u201d \u2014 and 32 of the 36 charters were ultimately signed.<\/p>\n

Phelps was questioned about the France family taking ISC private \u2014 then selling Auto Club Speedway in California to pay down the debt from the purchase \u2014 but said the sale was vital for NASCAR\u2019s scheduling flexibility.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was a really important and undervalued decision,\u201d Phelps said, adding this year\u2019s Mexico City race and Chicago Street Race would not have been possible with a publicly traded company.<\/p>\n

Earlier Tuesday, NASCAR questioned economist Dr. Edward Snyder on his contention Formula One was the closest benchmark to NASCAR \u2014 with NASCAR attorney Larry Buterman saying IndyCar should have been a more comparable example.<\/p>\n

After that, accountant Anthony Smith testified he received anonymized data from 12 race teams, nine of which reported a loss. However, Smith acknowledged he did not have the opportunity to certify or audit the finances of any team (though they were submitted under a court order requiring good faith).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CHARLOTTE, N.C. \u2014 Some of Jim France\u2019s closest friends in racing begged him for permanent charters, hoping for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":340141,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[6814,425,99,1794],"class_list":["post-340140","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-motorsports","tag-nascar","tag-sports","tag-sports-business"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/340140","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=340140"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/340140\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/340141"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=340140"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=340140"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=340140"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}