From timelines to financial disclosures, here’s where things stand at NASCAR trial
The second week of one of the most consequential trials in NASCAR history begins Monday morning.
Here’s a reminder of what’s at stake and what has happened so far after the first week of proceedings at the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina in uptown Charlotte.
A quick refresher: Why Cup teams are suing NASCAR
The trial at hand pits the sanctioning body of NASCAR against two teams that compete in its premier series, called the Cup Series. The two plaintiff Cup teams are 23XI Racing (owned by sports icon Michael Jordan and Cup superstar Denny Hamlin) and Front Row Motorsports (owned by entrepreneur Bob Jenkins).
The Cup teams are alleging that NASCAR is an unlawful monopoly — one that is not only the only buyer in the market of premier stock car racing but one that also engages in “anti-competitive practices” to weaken the teams and strengthen itself.
If NASCAR prevails, the sport will likely keep a similar model of business, even if it’s possible the charter system (more on this later) as the sport knows it will be altered or discarded altogether. If the teams win, a whole new business of NASCAR will need to be imagined and implemented, and the governing body will need to pay hefty sums in damages, too.
This trial is a milestone in all that has unfolded since the teams filed their lawsuit against NASCAR in October 2024. Settlement is possible but unlikely during trial, sources have said, and whoever falls short at the conclusion of trial will likely kickstart an appeals process that will continue into 2026 and perhaps beyond.
High-level case considerations, including timeline
Before proceedings began last week, Judge Kenneth Bell told the nine-member jury that this is a civil court proceeding and laid out what some of that means. Among the things he clarified was that the burden of proof rests on the plaintiffs (the Cup teams); in other words, the plaintiffs must prove their case by a preponderance of evidence, meaning that it is “more likely than not” that their claims are true.
The goal, Bell initially said, was for the case to be heard in two weeks’ time. However, the pace of the trial was quite slow the first three days, to the disappointment of Bell. The plaintiffs still are going through their own witnesses — and NASCAR’s legal team said they were expecting to “split the trial in half,” meaning to take as much time on their witnesses as the Cup teams did with theirs. In other words, it’s unlikely this will be done by end of business Dec. 12.
Bell said that the teams cannot have the trial last longer than Dec. 19.
Who has testified so far?
The plaintiffs have called several witnesses to give testimony in Charlotte, which the defendants have cross-examined. Those people so far:
- Denny Hamlin (co-owner of 23XI Racing)
- Scott Prime (NASCAR executive vice president and chief strategy officer)
- Bob Jenkins (owner of Front Row Motorsports)
- Steve O’Donnell (president of NASCAR)
- Heather Gibbs (co-owner of Joe Gibbs Racing)
- Michael Jordan (principal owner of 23XI Racing)
- Jonathan Marshall (executive director of the Race Team Alliance)
What has happened so far? And who is winning?
For those following the case closely over the course of the year, many of the arguments you’d expect have already come to the fore, and many of the revealing texts and emails that were published during discovery have been laid out for the jury to see.
The main topic of discussion has centered on the 2025 charter agreement. A quick refresher:
The charter system in NASCAR was first established in 2016. It was the first time in NASCAR’s nearly 80-year history when each Cup team that competed every week owned a “charter.” The system isn’t all that different from how “franchises” work in other sports leagues.
The 2016 agreement expired ahead of the 2025 season. Negotiations leading up to 2025 were difficult. Teams wanted to make those charters “evergreen” or permanent; in other words they wanted the asset (the team) they paid millions of dollars to obtain belong to them as opposed to “leasing” them from NASCAR, as the plaintiffs have put it — and see their investment appreciate, or depreciate, as the sport fares over time.
NASCAR wanted to maintain its business model from 2016 and laid out a charter agreement that many of the teams didn’t like, the plaintiffs claim. So why did they sign? Because NASCAR — by virtue of being a monopsony, teams claim — put down a deadline of Sept. 6, 2024, and, as a few owners have testified, the majority of teams couldn’t bear the idea of losing their charters after all they’ve invested in the sport. Thirteen of the 15 teams signed. Two didn’t. Those two teams are the plaintiffs in this landmark trial.
NASCAR patently rejects the “gun-to-your-head” argument from the teams. The sanctioning body has repeated the refrain that it sent out a charter agreement proposal on Aug. 30 and set a deadline for the following week. NASCAR also has fought back on several other claims teams have made — including that the exclusivity provisions they included at certain racetracks they work closely with weren’t actually anti-competitive; that certain Cup teams have struggled to make money is not a fault on them and their economic model but actually an indictment of teams’ business decisions; and more.
This leads us to the age-old question: Who is winning? It’s difficult to say. The teams have landed several of the arguments they’ve set out to, but it’s also been their “days in court,” so to speak. NASCAR will have its chance to control the witness list once the plaintiffs are through with their side.
3 fun financial disclosures
Some of the most revealing parts of the trial has been financial disclosures:
- Denny Hamlin gets paid $14 million as a driver for Joe Gibbs Racing. (Yes, he drives for JGR and owns 23XI; he’s the first high-profile driver to do this since Dale Earnhardt.) Other salary disclosures: NASCAR president Steve O’Donnell told the jury he makes $1.2 million a year, and executive vice president Scott Prime makes approximately $400,000 annually. Financial statements released before the trial show that NASCAR made a net income of over $100 million in 2024.
- Michael Jordan said he has invested $35-40 million in 23XI and also paid $28 million for the Stewart-Haas Racing charter the team purchased in 2025, he testified Friday.
- NASCAR lost $55 million putting on the historic Chicago Street Race, O’Donnell told the jury last week. The series also lost money going to Mexico City ($6 million) and the L.A. Coliseum ($13 million). The NASCAR president said that such was a strategic investment as the league’s broadcast deal was greatly impacted by such ambitious scheduling; he added that the current broadcast deal (with its average annual revenue of $1.1 billion) was a large revenue stream for the teams.
Who has yet to testify?
Both parties have been attempting to pare down their witness lists to speed up the proceedings. But there are still some compelling people who will testify this week and maybe next. Among those who we still expect to hear from:
- Richard Childress (owner of Richard Childress Racing)
- Roger Penske (owner of Team Penske), barring a scheduling conflict
- Jim France (CEO of NASCAR)
- Curtis Polk (Jordan’s longtime business partner)
- Steve Phelps (NASCAR commissioner)
This story was originally published December 8, 2025 at 5:00 AM with the headline "From timelines to financial disclosures, here’s where things stand at NASCAR trial."
