In the NASCAR Lawsuit, Everybody Wins and Nobody Loses. Or Not…

Man. Denny Hamlin almost had me. It’s not like I had anything against the veteran NASCAR Cup driver: I was just sort of a Hamlin agnostic, sometimes a little put off by his aggressively carpy personality, but late this season, it seemed like a different Denny: He was handling the contentious lawsuit that he and 23XI team co-owner and NBA great Michael Jordan filed against NASCAR with a focused grace, plus he was driving exceptionally well as he marched toward a season championship, which would be his first in 20 years of trying.

Right up to the last race at Phoenix. (Where, incidentally, 12 years ago I had asked Hamlin for his opinion of the then-new generation-six car, and he honestly answered, which in part resulted in him being fined $25,000 by NASCAR, which does not like to be criticized by its drivers, much less sued).

This year, Denny, as you may know, had this last race and the resulting championship in hand right up to the end, when a crash caused a caution period, and the top cars dove for the pits. They all changed two tires, except Hamlin, who changed four. And the resulting delay sent him back on track late, and he lost the race, and the championship, to a flabbergasted Kyle Larson. Hamlin was understandably crushed. But he handled that with grace as well: I’m liking this guy.

Then came the courtroom drama, which was settled late in the proceedings last week, marketed by both sides, on the courthouse steps, as a trial where there were no losers, only winners! Then everybody hugged.

Though, as ESPN reported, “There was no doubt that the victory belonged to the teams over the sanctioning body.” We’ll get to that in a moment.

A central issue in the suit was that of the 15 NASCAR teams that held charters (think of them as franchises), 13 signed the new charter agreement, but 23IX and Front Row Racing didn’t, because they didn’t like the terms. Afterwards, comments made by Hamlin, and even Jordan, seemed measured and professional.

And then came Wednesday morning, when Hamlin responded online to an inoffensive “Good morning” social media post from Larry McReynolds, a mostly-retired crew chief who began working in NASCAR 50 years ago, and who won a pair of Daytona 500s, with Dale Earnhardt and Davey Allison. McReynolds now works in broadcasting as a TV analyst, and he and NASCAR TV reporter Danielle Trotta have a show on the SiriusXM NASCAR channel, number 90 on the dial, called “On Track.”

The post from McReynolds was about Tuesday afternoon’s show. To which Hamlin responded on X: “Now that the case is settled and the evidence is out will you or anyone on channel 90 be issuing an apology for what you all said about 23XI/FRM when the lawsuit was filed?”

Which ought to be required, Hamlin continued, “because I believe that once the actual facts and documents were released it was contradictory to the narrative that was being pushed. Larry is a very hard-working analyst. Hopefully he took the time to analyze the situation post settlement and revise his thoughts.”

Among those thoughts, Hamlin tweeted: “I believe it was ‘How dare them for trying to come in and change the sport. 23XI hasn’t been around long enough and FRM wasn’t good enough.’ Also how about ‘I don’t know what their problem is, 13 other teams signed it.’ Just to name a few examples.”

I’ve heard of sore losers, but a sore winner? Sigh. Hamlin seemed mostly incensed by comments made by McReynolds on the day the suit became public, back in October of 2024. I happened to be listening to McReynolds and Trotta that day, and it was memorable: An upset and incensed McReynolds, an undeniable NASCAR loyalist, took some of the suit’s incendiary language as an unmitigated attack on a series that, since it began in 1949, has made a whole lot of people millionaires. Including Hamlin, as we learned, who testified that he makes $14 million a year.

McReynolds, genuinely pissed, indeed ranted that day, and you know what? It was damned refreshing. NASCAR backs SiriusXM channel 90, and normally, seldom is heard a discouraging word from the hosts regarding anything that involves the sanctioning body, aside from an occasional rule, or ruling. And that includes throwing excessive shade at any of the well-funded teams.

But McReynolds was angry that the anti-trust lawsuit, funded largely out of NBA legend Michael Jordan’s deep pockets, threatened to comprehensively splinter NASCAR, which the suit contended is an illegal monopoly.

Trotta, acting as a voice of reason, especially in view of the NASCAR channel’s ultimate mission of promoting NASCAR and avoiding controversy, attempted to dial the fuming McReynolds back, but he wasn’t having it.

So if that’s what Hamlin is mad about, I don’t have a lot of sympathy. McReynolds was responding to specific language in the lawsuit, such as the assertion that NASCAR and its CEO Jim France, who was the only person specifically named in the suit, had a tradition of using “anticompetitive and exclusionary practices” to “enrich themselves at the expense of the premier stock car racing teams.”

“The France family and NASCAR are monopolistic bullies,” the suit said. “And bullies will continue to impose their will to hurt others until their targets stand up and refuse to be victims. That moment has now arrived.”

And that made McReynolds angry. Understandably, I’d submit. In the year or so that followed, I do suspect Hamlin has had something to legitimately be annoyed about, as he says NASCAR Channel 90’s hosts, when they couldn’t avoid talking about the suit at all by deferring to driver interviews or “top-10 moment”-type chatter, were on NASCAR’s side. Understandable: It’s the NASCAR channel.

But McReynolds has nothing to apologize for. And Hamlin is presumptuous in asking for one.

As far as the settlement goes, I’m not quite as ready as ESPN to deed over the win to the teams. NASCAR gave those 36 charters to teams in 2016 for free. Their value has increased to about $40 million, and teams can sell or lease the charters to other teams that want to add a car. By far, the single greatest concession made by NASCAR and Jim France in the lawsuit settlement is that instead of the charters being renewed by NASCAR every seven years, when broadcast rights are renegotiated, the charters are now permanent. The cost to NASCAR? Nothing.

Charters are now expected to double in value, meaning that a new team that seriously wants to compete in NASCAR will need to pay somebody around $80 million per car, and that’s before you buy your first tire (about $600 each, and you’ll need maybe 28 per race, per car).

Teams have also been told they will have a bigger say in NASCAR governance. We’ll see. And teams will be receiving a chunk of revenue from “international” rights, which they should have been getting anyway. Teams will also get a third of the revenue from “intellectual property rights,” which may be helpful, though NASCAR critics will insist that intellect is already scarce.

And that whole illegal monopoly thing? Gone, even though the court had already said that NASCAR was indeed a monopoly, but never ruled on whether or not that was illegal. So NASCAR gets to keep everything it owns, and vice-versa—NASCAR’s owners, Jim France and niece Lesa France Kennedy, get to keep NASCAR. If that monopoly was so evil, and it was, according to the lawsuit, how could Hamlin and Jordan and lawyer Kessler possibly let it continue? You’ll have to ask them.

And why did Jim France decide to settle? You’d have to ask him, but multiple observers would suggest that the turning point may have been a letter from Johnny Morris, founder and CEO of Bass Pro Shops, and a longtime NASCAR sponsor. “It is painful for all fans to watch the current conflict and division occurring within the sport we love,” Morris wrote. “We hope the France family and team owners will reflect carefully on the damage that’s being done to NASCAR in the ongoing dispute and dig deep and strive hard for compromise.”

Morris is a close friend of Jim France, and somebody he listens to, one billionaire to another. (Forbes says Johnny Morris’ $9.4 billion outranks both France, at $1.8 billion, and Jordan, at $3.5 billion, and even team owner Roger Penske’s $6.2 billion). And we know that in motorsports, money talks.

Well, I guess it does. We learned during the trial that most every NASCAR team owner claims to be losing money under the previous NASCAR business model: Bob Jenkins, whose Front Row Motorsports was the other team that filed suit along with 23XI’s Hamlin and Jordan, said that he has lost $100 million keeping his team afloat. To which I suggest: Then that’s not a business, it’s a hobby.

All that said, before the settlement, page after page of discovery and testimony bloodied both sides, especially NASCAR, which was simply out-lawyered by Jeffery Kessler, who made the sanctioning body and its executives seem petty at best, incompetent at worst. Texts between NASCAR Commissioner Steve Phelps and President Steve O’Donnell were just vicious, especially what Phelps said about longtime team owner Richard Childress over comments he made on SiriusXM’s NASCAR channel, calling him a “total ass clown” who should be “taken out back and flogged. He’s a stupid redneck who owes his entire fortune to NASCAR.”

Even the media covering NASCAR wasn’t spared in this. Immediately before the trial started, Hamlin tweeted that fans “have been brainwashed with their talking points for decades. Narratives pushed by media who are intimidated by them. Lies are over starting Monday morning. It’s time for the truth. It’s time for change,” which makes Hamlin sound like he’s running for Congress.

I covered my first NASCAR race 36 years ago. I was startled to have Hamlin report that I’ve been “intimidated” by NASCAR, and brainwashing readers.

Consequently, per Denny, you’d best read all this with caution.