Front Row Motorsports’ Bob Jenkins takes the stand in NASCAR antitrust case

Front Row Motorsports owner Bob Jenkins testified in a North Carolina federal court on Wednesday that he finds it “offensive” to say NASCAR teams overspend.

Jenkins, who filed a joint antitrust lawsuit against NASCAR with 23XI Racing, spent much of Wednesday’s proceedings on the witness stand. It began around 2:30 p.m. ET with one of the team’s lawyers having Jenkins introduce himself to the court through his background and how he got into the sport as a team owner. He explained that he started as a charter member of the Dale Earnhardt fan club before having the chance to sponsor through his Taco Bell franchise, and eventually founded his Cup Series team.

It was during this portion of his testimony that Jenkins admitted his organization has not made money in any year of its existence. There have been cost-cutting measures, however, and he mentioned implementing layoffs and temporary layoffs.

“Whatever we had to do,” Jenkins said.

In the two years before NASCAR awarded Jenkins two charters under the original agreement (2016), he said the organization lost $8.5 million. But he feels that Front Row has a reputation of doing more with less, and that’s where he mentioned it being offensive to say his, or any team, overspends.

“We have to have a model that works for us,” said Jenkins.

The charter system was something Jenkins favored and said it “gave us some stability.” The positives are that drivers, sponsors, and fans know they will be in the race. The guaranteed entry was also a big positive for team owners.

Jenkins insisted he does not have an issue with the system; but rather with what is in the agreement. Jenkins said he has not made a profit even with the implementation of the charter system. As such, even during the financial struggles, he has bought, sold, and leased charters over the years, seeing it as an opportunity to make money or break even.

Front Row Motorsports has lost $6.8 million annually in operating costs, and it costs approximately $20 million per year to race a car. The organization is worth $60.9 million.

Jenkins said he does not take a salary from the race team, which he said is not his day job, and stated that he’s only at the shop six to eight times a year. Jerry Freeze, the team president, handles the day-to-day operations.

The other businesses that Freeze has would become a point of contention under cross-examination by NASCAR. But before that came, Freeze continued to testify about the finances and why he didn’t sign the 2025 charter agreement.

Freeze first explained that he didn’t like the 2016 agreement but signed it in the hopes that the next one would be better. But he found that it went “virtually backwards in so many ways” and he did not sign it after consulting with his two oldest sons. The reason is that Jenkins hopes to one day pass the race team on to them, and he wanted everyone on the same page about what to do.

“It honestly hurt” when NASCAR gave the deadline to sign, and although Jenkins said he appreciated the extension for 23XI and Front Row, he stated it still felt like NASCAR “had them over a barrel” because 13 others had already signed. Jenkins, however, said no team owner told him they were happy to sign.

“This is not about bashing the France family,” Jenkins said. “This charter agreement is not one of them.”

NASCAR’s cross-examination of Jenkins began shortly before 4:00 p.m. ET. The first thing NASCAR’s lawyer did was have Jenkins acknowledge that his other business, particularly Charter Foods, is his day job. They then went on to explain that Long John Silver’s, one of the franchises Jenkins has owned, is now owned by his sons.

Long John Silver’s has appeared on the Front Row cars, a point NASCAR has made many times, noting that the organization does not get paid. NASCAR emphasized that Jenkins did not have his sons pay for the races they appeared in, yet reaped the benefits. Meanwhile, he wants the jury to award him millions of dollars.

Jenkins explained that he only puts those businesses on his cars when there is no sponsor. It was better than running a blank car, which Jenkins says doesn’t look good and doesn’t help sell sponsorship.

NASCAR then moved on to how Jenkins made deals in which a driver or partner could donate to the Lakeway Christian Schools he founded instead of paying the race team. One example was Matt Tifft, who had a contract to race for Front Row, paying $2.6 million, but his family trust could donate that to the school.

Tifft never finished the contract because he was sidelined with a medical issue, and therefore, the payment to the school was never made. It would have come from the Tifft family trust, which shared Jenkins’s beliefs.

Another example was that Jenkins had a conversation with Denny Hamlin in 2021 about merging with 23XI Racing. In those scenario, Jenkins would have sold his two charters and allowed donations to the schools instead of paying him. That proposal never came to fruition, and Jenkins used that as another way to forcefully tell NASCAR that no one has ever made a donation to the schools. But they could keep talking all day about money that didn’t go to his race team.

NASCAR also argued that Jenkins was losing money before the charter agreement and is now blaming the series and suing over it. They also brought up that, with a charter system, Jenkins wanted smaller field sizes, which would “free up” money for his team. Jenkins refuted that notion, but said he does believe in smaller fields because it would make things healthier, whereas allowing part-time teams doesn’t add value to the series.

Jenkins will continue under cross-examination on Thursday morning.