NASCAR CEO Jim France: ‘I have not’ changed stance on permanent charters

NASCAR chairman and CEO Jim France testified on Tuesday, the seventh day of an antitrust trial in Charlotte, that he has not budged from his position on granting racing teams permanent charters.

Front Row Motorsports and 23XI Racing filed the federal antitrust lawsuit, with the latter team co-owned by NBA legend Michael Jordan and driver Denny Hamlin. The plaintiffs have accused NASCAR of employing anti-competitive tactics to pressure teams into compliance, and France was the final witness called by their attorneys.

Plaintiffs' attorney Jeffrey Kessler presented evidence that showed the likes of Joe Gibbs, Rick Hendrick, and Roger Penske had pleaded with France in the past for permanent charters for their teams, similar to other sports franchises.

"They're all telling you they need permanent charters, and you said no," Kessler said, prompting France to reply, "We did not do evergreen or permanent charters, no."

Asked if he had changed his stance on the matter, France said, "No, I have not."

Underscoring the issue, another team owner, Richard Childress, testified earlier Tuesday that his highly successful team would have gone bankrupt if he hadn't been able to generate income through other businesses and avenues.

Charters are key to the lawsuit because 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports declined the take-it-or-leave-it charters offered before the 2025 season, leading to the contentious litigation. Jordan has called NASCAR and the France family "monopolistic bullies" in criticizing the league's business practices, and his lawsuit specifically names Jim France.

The France family has owned and operated NASCAR since Bill France Sr. founded the league in 1948.

Jim France claimed that he is merely "involved" in decision-making and NASCAR's board has the power to override him, but he did not provide examples of that ever actually happening.

Hamlin likened NASCAR's charter agreements to a "death certificate" in testimony last week. On Tuesday, Childress drove the point home by alleging that he was pressured into signing the new charter in September 2024 after repeatedly asking France to consider making them permanent or auto-renewing.

"They told us we had until (midnight) or you lose ‘em," Childress said. "Financially, I can't lose my charters."

The other witness to testify Tuesday was NASCAR commissioner Steve Phelps, who was presented with an email in which he wrote that teams should "Pick a date and they can sign or lose their charters. It is that simple."

Phelps stated it was "absolutely not" fair to describe France's actions as a monopolistic exercise of power and also denied that France prioritized "maintaining power over the teams."

He also testified that negotiating with Curtis Polk, Jordan's longtime business partner, was "one of the most challenging and longest negotiations I've ever been part of." Polk was working on behalf of the "Team Negotiating Council" in those talks.

"The TNC never wavered off their four pillars. It was just the same thing, the same thing, and that was very frustrating," Phelps said.

Those pillars were permanent charters, a voice in rules and regulations, increased revenue, and one-third of new revenue streams in the future. Previous evidence and testimony in the trial have pointed to Jim France standing in the way of teams gaining a bigger slice of the sport's revenue.

On Monday, economist Dr. Edward A. Snyder testified that NASCAR shortchanged its charter teams $1.06 billion between 2021 and 2024 when compared to Formula One's revenue payouts for its teams.

--Field Level Media