By Neha Dwivedi, Staff Writer and Jerry Jordan, Editor

On the ninth day of proceedings in the legal battle involving NASCAR, 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports, the standoff concluded with a settlement. Both sides issued a joint statement confirming the resolution and emphasizing that the agreement is designed to provide long-term stability while laying the groundwork for meaningful growth across the sport in a more competitive landscape.

Under the terms of the settlement, NASCAR will distribute an amendment to existing charter holders outlining updated provisions for execution. Those terms include the introduction of a form of “evergreen” charters, contingent upon mutual consent. However, the financial details of the agreement will remain confidential and will not be made public.

The resolution prompted responses from across the garage, including industry leaders such as Team Penske and Hendrick Motorsports. Team Penske owner Roger Penske welcomed the development.

“Today’s settlement is tremendous news for the industry,” Penske said in a written statement. “We are stronger together as a sport and the agreement today allows all of us to focus on what’s important: the continued growth of NASCAR. The sport has never been more competitive and today’s resolution provides the entire industry with a platform that strengthens our business and allows us to continue to entertain our millions of passionate fans in a unified way.”

Rick Hendrick, owner of Hendrick Motorsports, echoed that sentiment while stressing the broader implications for the sport.

“Millions of loyal NASCAR fans and thousands of hardworking people rely on our industry, and today’s resolution allows all of us to focus on what truly matters, the future of our sport,” Hendrick’s written comments stated. “For more than 40 years, NASCAR racing has been my passion. I believe deeply in what we can accomplish when we work together. This moment presents an important opportunity to strengthen our relationships and recommit ourselves to building a collaborative and prosperous future for all stakeholders. I’m incredibly optimistic about what’s ahead. When our industry is united, there’s no limit to how far we can go or how much we can grow the sport we love.”

One of those immediate implications came from a team owner, who wished to remain anonymous, saying that his charters just “doubled in value.”

“We were in a bind, we had to sign, but it took someone like (Michael) Jordan to Bob (Jenkins) to stand up to NASCAR,” the source confided to Kickin’ the Tires. “We had sponsor concerns and weren’t sure what would happen if we didn’t take whatever we could get and hope for the best.”

Jordan, the NBA billionaire who co-owns 23XI Racing with NASCAR driver Denny Hamlin, framed the settlement as a continuation of the original intent behind the lawsuit. He explained the action was always about progress and ensuring the sport evolves in a way that supports teams, drivers, partners, employees, and fans alike.

“ We now have the chance to grow together and make the sport even better for generations to come,” Jordan said. “I’m excited to watch our teams get back on the track and compete hard in 2026.”

Hamlin also addressed the outcome of the case, reflecting on his lifelong connection to NASCAR. He spoke about how racing has shaped his identity and why that bond compelled his team to shoulder the challenges that came with taking a stand. Hamlin said he knew from the beginning the fight was worth it.

“I’ve cared deeply about the sport of NASCAR my entire life,” Hamlin said. “Racing is all I’ve ever known, and this sport shaped who I am. That’s why we were willing to shoulder the challenges that came with taking this stand. We believed it was worth fighting for a stronger and more sustainable future for everyone in the industry. Teams, drivers, and partners will now have the stability and opportunity they deserve. Our commitment to the fans and to the entire NASCAR community has never been stronger. I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished, and now it is time to move forward together and build the stronger future this sport deserves.”

“With this change, we can finally build long-term value and have a real voice in NASCAR’s future,’ said Jenkins, who co-owns Front Row Motorsports. “I’m excited for the road ahead—for the people in the garage, the folks in the stands, and everyone who loves this sport.”

During the trial, he testified that he had never made a profit from NASCAR. He noted that it had long been evident that the sport required a structure that treated teams, drivers, and sponsors fairly while preserving competitive integrity. This settlement offers that opportunity.

NASCAR CEO and Chairman, Jim France, whose father, Bill France Sr., first created NASCAR during a meeting at the Streamline Hotel in Daytona Beach, Fla., stated that he believes the agreement will help the growth of the sport going forward. He was the primary holdout, repeatedly refusing to grant permanent charters to the teams. In the end, he acquiesced, possibly because the trial was not going in NASCAR’s favor and possibly because sponsors began questioning the logic behind the decisions being made from the top.

“This outcome gives all parties the flexibility and confidence to continue delivering unforgettable racing moments for our fans, which has always been our highest priority since the sport was founded in 1948,” France stated. “We worked closely with race teams and tracks to create the NASCAR charter system in 2016, and it has proven invaluable to their operations and to the quality of racing across the Cup Series. Today’s agreement reaffirms our commitment to preserving and enhancing that value, ensuring our fans continue to enjoy the very best of stock car racing for generations to come. We are excited to return the collective focus of our sport, teams and racetracks toward an incredible 78th season that begins with the Daytona 500 on Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026.”

Talk about making a good first impression.

Lionel Racing has released its list of top selling NASCAR cars for 2025 and number one was only in one race.

JR Motorsports made its Cup Series debut at the Daytona 500 with Justin Allgaier driving the Traveller Whiskey Chevrolet to a ninth place finish, but he took the top spot on the sales chart.

The clean version of the car was the best-seller and the raced version, complete with battle scars and repairs, took the third spot.

See It: DODGE RETURNS TO STOCK CAR RACING

In between them was the throwback Budweiser late model that Dale Earnhardt Jr. drove to 10th place in the Cars Tour race at Anderson Motor Speedway in August. The paint scheme was inspired by his 2001 Pepsi 400-winning car.

Next up was the Atlanta-winning NAPA sponsored Chevy of NASCAR’s most popular driver Chase Elliott, while the Daytona 500-winning car of his Hendrick Motorsports teammate, William Byron, was fifth.

CLICK TO BOOST AMERICAN CARS AND AND RACING IN YOUR SEARCH RESULTS

Kyle Larson’s 2025 NASCAR Cup Series championship-winning Chevy took the sixth and seventh spots with the clean and raced versions, which were followed by Connor Zilisch’s Red Bull Cup Series car, Josh Berry’s Wood Brothers Racing Las Vegas-winning Ford and Shane van Gisbergen’s Red Bull Chevy.

“These best-sellers reflect the incredible diversity of NASCAR fandom — from legendary names like Dale Earnhardt Jr. to rising stars like Connor Zilisch, Lionel CEO Howard Hitchcock said in a news release.

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“Each die-cast tells a story of triumph and tradition, and we’re proud to bring these moments to fans and collectors everywhere.

Allgaier will be back in the No. 40 car next February attempting to qualify for the Daytona 500 again, so he could repeat on the 2026 Lionel list.

LISTEN AND SUBSCRIBE TO THE GAS: AN AMERICAN CARS AND RACING PODCAST

NASCAR team investors and executives have reportedly stated that their charter values have already gone up extensively since Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin’s $365 million antitrust lawsuit was settled this week.

On Thursday, 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports received a substantial financial boost after NASCAR settled its antitrust lawsuit on Day 9 of the trial. The two Cup Series teams launched the lawsuit against the sanctioning body in October of last year.

A year of legal back-and-forth ensued until the case ended up at trial in a North Carolina courthouse, with 23XI Racing owners Jordan and Hamlin in attendance as they fought and potentially risked losing millions – along with their place in the sport.

But in a surprise move, a settlement was reached on Thursday – before NASCAR had given it’s defense. Elements of the settlement agreement immediately came to light, with NASCAR teams getting permanent “evergreen charters.” 

Since then, some industry execetuvies believe their charter may even double from around $45 million to even get close to the $90 million mark – with Jordan and Hamlin’s legal win aiding this.

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Sports Business Journal contacted several teams who were asked about the charter price will rise, with some teams even suggesting that it could double.

In the post-court briefing after the settlement, the charters were discussed and agreed to remain ‘evergreen’ – being in place for the long-term so that their value will continue to rise.

Permanent charters also create a more reliable environment for sponsorship, whereas deals in NASCAR are often more short-term – perhaps making life difficult for brand to commit to deals that they perhaps would like to.

Jordan and Hamlin were both seen smiling as they left court on Thursday, knowing that they had scored a huge win over NASCAR.

Tony Stewart relished the opportunity to compete against Chase Elliott and his father, Bill, in the Camping World SRX Series before NASCAR top brass expressed concern about letting their biggest stars compete in the series.

During this week’s NASCAR antitrust trial, newly surfaced text messages shed light on the sanctioning body’s disdain for the SRX Series — a startup stock car racing circuit founded by Tony Stewart and Ray Evernham in July 2020.

In a series of message chains, NASCAR executives criticized drivers and team owners for participating in the SRX Series — particularly signaling out Elliott, who piloted the stylized No. 9 in the rival series. In response to one redacted sender who wrote, “Oh great, another owner racing in SRX,” NASCAR president Steve O’Donnell replied: “This is NASCAR. Pure and simple. Enough. We need legal to take a shot at this.”

NASCAR commissioner Steve Phelps expressed a similar sentiment, chiming in: “These guys are just plain stupid. Need to put a knife in this trash series.”

Even without the support of NASCAR, Elliott competed in the SRX Series on multiple occasions — most notably emerging victorious in the 2021 season finale at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway. The Cup Series driver crossed the finish line a mere .439 of a second before Stewart after fending off multiple challenges from his dad throughout the 77-lap race.

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“I had a ball. I got to race against two of my heroes,” Elliott said at the time. “I got to race against Dad there throughout the race and those are moments I will cherish forever. Just super thankful to be here.”

Despite settling for a second-place finish, Stewart was still all smiles following his tight battle against two members of the Elliott family. “How could you ask for more than to finish between two Elliotts?” Stewart said. “That’s pretty bada— in itself, and we really appreciate NASCAR and Hendrick Motorsports for letting Chase come run with us. It means a lot to us, it means a lot to Bill.”

With just over 20 laps remaining in the race, Elliott and Bill exchanged the lead three separate times while racing door-to-door. “I don’t know who lit a fire under him,” the younger Elliott said of his dad.

“I had not seen that in him in years. It was amazing and a lot of fun. I thought it was going to be between he and I. I think he just got a little high into one and missed that restart. Other than that, it was so much fun.”

On Lap 55, Elliott finally sped past Bill to claim the lead position for good. “Man, I tell you what, it was a lot of fun,” Bill said. “I knew the way the tires were on these cars and the way Chase manages his stuff, he was going to be hard to beat. I know he didn’t have the best car, but he knows how to get it to the end.”

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Winning a sports car racing endurance championship in its series debut season is a rare achievement for any racing team.

Winning two first-year endurance titles at the same time is almost unheard of, but that’s exactly what Pierce Marshall, his longtime coach and co-driver Eric Foss and Matador Motorsports accomplished in Historic Sportscar Racing competition.

“To be blunt, the only time I’m on track is a race weekend with HSR,” Marshall said. “My work schedule just doesn’t allow anything else. So, my approach to this whole thing is to get as much track time as I can at these events, and that’s the way to do it. I do the Michelin Prototype Challenge at every event, as well as run the Mission HSR Classics when they’ve got them. For me, racing is one of those things where I love my hobby, and I’m blessed to be in the position where I have my own race shop and that I can have a car like this.”

Driving the 2017 No. 02 Matador Motorsports Cadillac Dallara DPi, Marshall and Foss won both the HSR Classic Endurance Championship presented by Mission Foods Modern Prototype/Sports Racer championship as well as the season-long endurance title in the top-tier P1 class that was added to the HSR Prototype Challenge presented by Michelin championship this year.

“I would not have had these championships without Eric Foss, who has been with me since I first started racing,” Marshall said. “His coaching and driving have brought me to where I am, and obviously Dan Binks and Binks Motorsports prepare an incredible car for us. The reason I think we consistently had such good performance is that the car was great right off the trailer. There is just no substitute for that. We were able to just get in and go fast right from the very beginning without chasing anything, and that’s honestly key.”

Matador’s season highlight was undoubtedly the HSR Classic Endurance Championship by Mission Foods in which Marshall, Foss and the No. 02 Matador team won two of the year’s four races. In an “odd” occurrence, the team won the opening Round 1 of the season at the HSR Classic Sebring 12 Hour presented by Mission Foods in March and took its second win in Round 3 at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta in September at the inaugural HSR Classic Road Atlanta 10 Hour presented by Mission Foods.

The victories were backed up by a second-place finish at the HSR Classic Watkins Glen 6 Hour presented by Mission Foods and a third-place showing at the season-ending HSR Classic Daytona 24 Hour presented by Mission Foods, which was enough to secure the 2025 title.

Marshall and Foss have been a winning partnership for more than a decade.

“I was fortunate enough to meet Pierce at the end of 2012, so 13 years ago almost to the day probably, and we started working together,” Foss said. He didn’t have much racing experience back then, but I had a lot of GT experience, and over the years we have really progressed through his race craft.

“When we got to the Prototype stuff I told him, ‘You know, I have no experience in these types of cars,’ but he put a lot of faith in me and said, ‘well, we will learn this together.’ So, it’s been an awesome journey of his learning through me, and me also learning the cars themselves. It just makes it a lot of fun and I’m very grateful how he puts as much faith and trust in me as he does. In return, he is always a pleasure to coach and is really, really honing his race craft and his improvement, especially over the last few years. It has been pretty awesome.”

Marshall, Foss and the No. 02 Matador squad were the only team in the HSR Classic Endurance Modern Prototype division to finish on the podium in every race this year.

“It’s great that HSR and Mission Foods and Juan Gonzalez came up with this concept to make a championship out of these HSR Classic endurance races,” Marshall said. “I would argue they are the toughest ones to win, especially consistently.”

What’s Happening?

23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports’ antitrust lawsuit filed against NASCAR over a year ago, and while the lead-up to the trial had plenty of revelations, the nine-day trial also had its fair share of breaking news. Here are five unforgettable things we learned from the 23XI/FRM and NASCAR antitrust trial.

Denny Hamlin Claims NASCAR Killed Germain Racing

On day one of the trial, 23XI Racing co-owner Denny Hamlin came out swinging right out of the gate, accusing NASCAR of being the reason that Germain Racing, which operated a Cup Series team from 2009 to 2020, went out of business.

Hamlin alleged that NASCAR, as part of its Premier Partners program, which the sport introduced in 2020 to replace its then-departed title sponsor Monster Energy, brought on GEICO, taking the long-time sponsor partner away from Germain.

Denny Hamlin Asked Michael Jordan to Find a Buyer for His Portion of 23XI

During his cross-examination of Hamlin, NASCAR’s lawyer asked Denny Hamlin about a text message he sent to 23XI Racing co-owner Michael Jordan. In this text from 2023, Hamlin asked Jordan to find a buyer for his portion of 23XI.

While Hamlin did not, and has not, sold any portion of 23XI, the owner/driver claims this during a period of frustration and needed to get the attention of his business partners. Hamlin also says he and his fellow co-owners resolved this issue in a meeting at Jordan’s golf course, The Grove XXIII.

Furniture Row Racing Won a Title, and It Cost Them Everything

Every NASCAR fan knows the tragic story of Furniture Row Racing, which, after winning the 2017 NASCAR Cup Series Championship, closed its operation at the end of the 2018 season. Prior to this lawsuit, it was widely known, but unconfirmed by the sport or parties involved, that their closure was for financial reasons related to an increased alliance with Joe Gibbs Racing.

Shockingly, during this trial, NASCAR’s legal team accused JGR of being the reason FRR closed its door, with attorney Lawrence Buterman alleging the team doubled the price of the partnership after their title win on Monday. Even more shocking was the testimony of NASCAR Commissioner Steve Phelps, who claimed that JGR didn’t just double the price, but tripled it from roughly $3 million to $10 million.

Richard Childress Was Looking to Sell Part of RCR in 2025

Though many were excited for Richard Childress to take the witness stand, the resulting testimony and examination did not mention the hot-button issue of comments made by NASCAR Commissioner Steve Phelps in text messages unsealed by the courts.

But that doesn’t mean his time in the courtroom wasn’t without fireworks, as the court revealed that Childress only owns 60% of RCR and that NASCAR was aware of a group led by former driver Bobby Hillin Jr., who had attempted to buy RCR.

This questioning led to an “animated” response from Childress, who said that the deal had fallen through and was confused how NASCAR had known this due to an NDA he had Hillin and members of the interested party sign prior to negotiations.

Hendrick Motorsports Lost Millions in the Early 2020s

During the examination of NASCAR Chairman and CEO Jim France, 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports lawyer Jeffery Kessler read a letter sent by team owner Rick Hendrick to France in early 2024.

In this letter, Hendrick asked France to consider “a Charter agreement that’s fair and ensures a collaborative and prosperous structure for NASCAR, its stakeholders and the industry as a whole.“

Hendrick also made two specific claims in his letter.

First, he claimed that NASCAR had told teams, “bring no value, our rights are worthless, and we don’t know how to run a viable business.” Second, he claimed that despite success on track, including two Championships, the team had lost tens of millions of dollars over the prior five seasons.

While Hendrick’s in-profitability, like several other revelations in the trial, was no secret, the fact that one of the sport’s most successful and perhaps most popular teams lost $20 million over five seasons astounded the NASCAR fan base.

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