They tell us all the time: Be careful with these text messages.
Some of these, if discovered, could result in extreme embarrassment or even shame.
In the good environmentsome could even have legal consequences.
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In this particular case, you have everything.
Man, oh man, talk about a “discovery”…
Longtime team owner Richard Childress has become an unfortunate figure in NASCAR’s ongoing legal battle.
The antitrust case against NASCAR – brought to you by racing teams 23XI and Front Row Motorsports – begins this coming Monday (Dec. 1) in Charlotte, North Carolina, barring a very last-minute settlement. A settlement would eliminate the possibility of worst-case scenarios for either party, but it would not erase the damage already done.
Michael Jordan, Denny Hamlin and even Long John Silver (in a way) are part of the NASCAR trial
A little “tale of the tape”, as boxers call it…
23XI Course: The team is co-owned by basketball legend Michael Jordan.Jordan’s longtime business partner, Curtis Polk, and longtime NASCAR star, Denny Hamlin, who still races for another team, Joe Gibbs Racing.
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The 23XI team will field three Toyotas in the Cup Series. They are piloted by Tyler Reddick, Bubba Wallace and Riley Herbst.
Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan.
Motor sports at the forefront: The team is owned by Bob Jenkins, who owns some 250 restaurant franchises, including KFC, Taco Bell and Long John Silver’s. The team will field three Ford Cup Series for drivers Noah Gragson, Todd Gilliland and Zane Smith.
NASCAR: The organization was founded in late 1947 by a group of riders brought together by Bill France, who was chosen to lead the organization at the December meetings in Daytona Beach, where the headquarters is today.
In 1972, France passed control of NASCAR to his eldest son, Bill Jr., who died in 2007. Bill Jr.’s son, Brian, followed his father as head of NASCAR but took an “indefinite leave of absence” in 2018 after an arrest for drunk driving in Sag Harbor, New York.
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Brian’s uncle Jim, the younger brother (and only sibling) of Bill France Jr., was brought in to stabilize the organization and remains today as CEO and chairman of NASCAR. He is now 81 years old and has a background in car and motorcycle racing, and has always been considered to enjoy great popularity throughout the sport, from boardrooms to garages.
Jim’s niece, Lesa France Kennedy, is executive vice president of NASCAR. His son, Ben, is also executive vice president and responsible for the organization’s venue and racing innovations. His public role has increased in recent years and he has served as a leader for various moves to new locations.
A look at the claims made by NASCAR teams
It’s complicated, as they say, but the plaintiffs hope to prove to the jury that NASCAR isn’t playing fair with the 15 team owners who together own the 36 “franchises” (they call them charters) that race in the Cup Series.
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According to the plaintiffs, racing teams could be much more profitable without the sanctioning body’s alleged monopolistic practices.
NASCAR responded accordingly, saying they were handling the operation in a way that benefits all participating parties. They point out that 13 of the team’s 15 owners agreed to the latest charter agreement, which coincided with the start of the new media deal with television networks Fox and NBC, as well as TNT and Amazon Prime.
As happens in such cases, there was a “discovery” phase, allowing the parties to uncover information deemed essential to proving their case. Early in the lengthy proceeding, things took an ugly turn when some of Hamlin’s text messages — deemed relevant to the process — detailed his personal animosities toward the NASCAR hierarchy.
“My contempt for the France family is deep,” we read in one of his texts.
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More recent texts, uncovered by Hamlin’s legal team, appear to hit even harder and could have long-term effects.
A wide range of text messages between top NASCAR officials — including commissioner Steve Phelps and chairman Steve O’Donnell — made headlines in the days leading up to the trial. Part of this is due to the potential legal implications they could have at trial, but for the large number of fans, they are explosive for entirely personal reasons.
Steve Phelps
As for potentially legal ramifications, some texts show officials’ negative feelings toward a three-year-old television series called Superstar Racing Experience (SRX), which held six summer races in 2021, 2022 and 2023 before bowing out. The first two years were broadcast on CBS, the third on ESPN – neither network currently broadcasts NASCAR races, a fact that was not lost on NASCAR executives, particularly when some of NASCAR’s star drivers moonlighted in SRX events.
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In a text chain, Phelps expressed NASCAR’s need to “put a knife in this trash series.” But in a group text involving a few other officials, it appears that NASCAR was concerned that SRX would soon announce plans to race at two former NASCAR speedway staples: North Wilkesboro and Bowman Gray Stadium, both in North Carolina.
Shortly after, NASCAR announced its return to North Wilkesboro (mid-season All-Star race) and Bowman Gray (pre-season “Clash”).
Along with the texts about SRX, the legal discovery took a personal turn when text messages from 2023 turned to team owner Richard Childress, who, during a national radio interview, expressed frustration with the continued high cost of fielding race teams.
In a text attributed to Phelps, Childress was variously called a dinosaur, an idiot, a stupid redneck and a clown “who owes his entire fortune to NASCAR.” On top of this, it was suggested that the team owner should be “taken out and whipped”.
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If you ever need an Exhibit A explaining why opposing groups often settle before getting too deep into legal proceedings, this is it.
The fallout included a less than forgiving response from the Childress camp.
Richard Childress tackles shrapnel
Richard Childress Racing, a NASCAR competitor since 1969, owns two Cup Series charters and offers Chevrolets to drivers Austin Dillon (the owner’s grandson) and Kyle Busch.
The team’s namesake was the team’s only driver in 285 Cup races until 1981, when Childress, who had never won a NASCAR race behind the wheel, changed his career path. Before long, he became a fixture at Victory Lane as he left the cockpit and eventually handed over the keys to Dale Earnhardt.
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Of Earnhardt’s 76 career victories, 67 came in RCR’s black No. 3 Chevrolet, which became a truly iconic vehicle that Earnhardt also drove to six of his seven career championships.
Childress, who turned 80 in September, was in NASCAR long before the “modern era” arrived in 1972. Along with the highly successful driver-owner partnership with Earnhardt, the two became close friends over the years, and that connection helped build much of the popularity the owner has maintained over the decades.
Childress grew up in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, not on the right side of the railroad tracks. He took odd jobs just to buy school meals. He sold refreshments in the stands at historic Bowman Gray Stadium. During his teenage years, he unloaded the moonshiners’ trunks and headed for the final leg of the journey: to the illegal breweries and gin joints around Winston-Salem.
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He sometimes witnessed horrific altercations and said he left the station after seeing one man blow another man to pieces with a shotgun.
He’s a throwback and a proud one, and he didn’t appreciate the text messages made public by NASCAR’s corner offices. There obviously wouldn’t have been any NASCAR millions for Richard Childress Racing without NASCAR, but he believes the gratitude should go both ways, and certainly didn’t find any gratitude coming from Phelps’ texted fingers.
His team issued a press release Monday confirming this.
“RCR and Richard Childress are also disappointed for NASCAR fans, with whom Mr. Childress closely identifies given his humble and hardworking background. Mr. Childress and the organization will make no further statements regarding these or other defamatory text messages that have recently surfaced as legal action is being considered and discussed with legal counsel.”
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And to think that the trial hasn’t even started yet.
∎ Email Ken Willis at [email protected]
This article originally appeared in the Daytona Beach News-Journal: NASCAR text scandal brings Richard Childress into pre-trial saga
