THE NASCAR trial is overand when the Daytona 500 takes the green flag in two months, everything will be the same as it has been for many years now.
THE antitrust lawsuitfiled by two of the 15 teams that field the 36-car full-time Cup Series, ended last Thursday when a settlement was reached before a nine-person jury was asked to render a verdict.
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After 16 months of legal battles, ultimatums and guesswork, things ended in familiar settlement fashion, but in a way that no one could have predicted even a day earlier: Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin, co-owners of one of the plaintiff teams, cordially flanked NASCAR Chairman Jim France outside the courthouse in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Things were so casual that you had to wonder why this whole thing hadn’t just been discussed over cocktails months ago. But for better or worse, in the world of American jurisprudence, that’s not how things work.
A familiar scene from the previous two weeks: Michael Jordan entering a Charlotte courthouse.
Lawyers have bills to pay too, you know.
As the smoke continues to clear, let’s skip the full recap and accelerate straight into the future, both near Turn 1 and also throughout the backstretch.
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1. Teams will get more money, but what about the power arms race?
We don’t yet know how much additional money teams will be guaranteed under these new charter terms. Hopefully we’ll rely on an old-fashioned leak and not another try to find out these numbers.
But here’s the question: does it matter?
Teams reportedly average $12 million to $13 million per car per year, while Denny Hamlin and others say it costs more than $20 million to race the entire season. My intuition, a little enlightened, tells me that it does not cost $20 million to operate, but that it still costs $20 million. near the front of the field.
Better-funded teams – through additional sponsorship or deep ownership – spend more to compete for wins and a possible championship. Nothing, it seems, has been done to resolve this problem, and it can be argued that nothing should be done in an open market.
For the sake of argument, let’s say that teams will now receive that $20 million per year under the new terms (again, for the sake of argument, because we don’t know). Can’t we assume that the Hendricks and Penskes of the paddock will always find ways to add several more millions to the budget in order to maintain the horsepower advantages they’ve always enjoyed?
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Will teams still struggle to achieve what the industry calls cubic dollars? Same game, just bigger numbers? Will they soon say, “Sure, we get $20 million guaranteed, but you need $30 million to be competitive?” » It’s worth asking.
A little more than 25 years ago, NASCAR closed a long chapter in its history and approached the 2001 season and its new world of February through November, flag-to-flag network television coverage. An overall television deal had happened and arrived in a Brink’s truck.
The final weekend of the 2000 season, at Homestead, I asked Richard Childress, who had seen a lot of things go both right and wrong since his early days on the wrong side of the tracks, if he had any concerns about all the new money coming into the sport.
“I had problems because I didn’t have enough money,” he said. “I’d rather have too many problems.”
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Speaking of Richard Childress…
2. Is there any chance that Richard Childress can forgive and forget?
Of all the dirty laundry uncovered during the discovery phase of the trial, nothing was more unseemly than the internal text messages about Childress and her public airing of grievances over TV charters and money.
“Stupid redneck…ass clown…flogging…”
All were recorded, thanks to new NASCAR commissioner Steve Phelps, who was still NASCAR president when the texts were exchanged. Childress responded with a press release that we believe truly represented his mood – not too happy, as you can imagine.
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He even hinted at legal potential, although possible legal underpinnings might be difficult to find.
Although the RCR organization isn’t much of a championship contender these days, Childress and his team remain an important part of the NASCAR landscape – for many, the team remains synonymous with Dale Earnhardt.
Childress must also regret having played any role in the trial. He was a witness for the complainant and during cross-examination he was asked about recent negotiations to sell a percentage of his team. These discussions, he said, were meant to be confidential and were in fact protected by a nondisclosure agreement.
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His regrets are undoubtedly mixed with anger. You wonder how the team owner will coexist with “management” in the future.
Now, speaking of that management…
3. Is Steve Phelps handling the fallout?
When Phelps’ title changed from president to commissioner last spring, we assumed it meant either a lot or nothing.
If it’s not much: Create a new commissioner title, one that fits the leadership language of the NFL, MLB, NBA, etc., while simultaneously promoting Steve O’Donnell to Phelps’ former chairman, a move that rewards O’Donnell and keeps him safely in the fold as a member of NASCAR management.
Or the other thought: This was part of a short- to mid-term plan to end the Phelps era and make way for new overlords – not just O’Donnell, but the next (and fourth) generation of French family leaders, Ben Kennedy. He has continued to rise to management positions since hanging up his own racing helmet in 2017.
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If it’s the latter, the confrontation with Childress could have sped up the timeline.
4. Does this provide an off-ramp for NASCAR President Jim France?
Since we’re in the corner offices, we might as well speculate about the man at the head of the table.
Several years ago, Jim France never imagined he would reach 80 and sit in this seat, let alone imagine standing next to Michael Jordan on the steps of a Charlotte courthouse.
It has been more than seven years since he took office following the resignation of his nephew, Brian France. In a strange twist of fate, it appears that NASCAR has moved from its third generation of family executives to the second, and will likely move to the fourth at some point.
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How far down the road?
Jim France is 81 years old, calm and lucid. His appearance at the courthouse Thursday, speaking to the media, was quintessential Jim — a mix of kindness and understatement, and almost surely some relief just beneath the surface.
Before taking on this role in 2018, however much he thought about the mid-2020s, he probably assumed he would focus largely on his other (favorite?) interests in racing: sports cars and motorcycles.
As he guides the family business through this transition, he may take the opportunity to pass the hammer.
5. Will Michael Jordan spend as much time in the booth?
And since we mentioned Michael Jordan, what is his future in NASCAR?
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At different points in his previous life – that of an international sports icon – he sometimes mentioned how he grew up as a fan of NASCAR and remained a fan into adulthood.
He officially joined the sport as a co-owner of 23XI Racing in 2020, and since then he’s legitimized his credentials as a guy who knows the sport, loves the sport, and best of all, is aware of the history of stock car racing.
After the NASCAR deal, he seemed like a guy ready to practice what he preached about a new way of doing business.
He has become a rather familiar figure in his team’s stands over the past few years. Will it now increase, decrease, or stay about the same?
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Needless to say, NASCAR was excited to see him enter the sport, especially on the ownership level. Executives likely had other opinions during the past 16 months of litigation. But now that the problem is largely resolved and a new path will soon emerge, Jordan’s presence can only contribute to the efforts to open this new path.
∎ Email Ken Willis at [email protected]
This article originally appeared in the Daytona Beach News-Journal: NASCAR and Michael Jordan lawsuit ends in settlement but questions remain
