Richard Childress took the stand Tuesday in Day 7 of the 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports versus NASCAR antitrust lawsuit trial. While being questioned by NASCAR on cross-examination, a notable news item was revealed.

Childress admitted that he had been shopping an equity stake in his team around. That includes part of his 60% majority ownership. According to Adam Stern of Sports Business Journal, Childress claimed that information was supposed to be under NDA, and he was surprised that NASCAR was aware of the talks.

Clearly, that is information Childress didn’t expect to get out, let alone in front of a jury. After the jury was dismissed, 23XI and FRM wanted a decision of Judge Kenneth Bell on the Childress tactic of the defense, according to Matt Weaver of Motorsport. The teams did not approve of NASCAR using documents that seemingly should have been covered by an NDA. They also requested the documents be turned over to them.

“Mr. Childress certainly thought it shouldn’t have been in their possession,” Bell said.

NASCAR attorney Chris Yates then explained why they brought up information apparently under an NDA. Yates said they were trying to impeach Childress for making inaccurate claims. Bell wasn’t buying that answer. He urged both sides to work together to come to a solution on the matter.

The group Childress was in discussions with about a partial sale of Richard Childress Racing was led by Bobby Hillin Jr. That deal never got across the finish line.

Richard Childress questioned over potential equity stake sale of RCR during NASCAR trial

Childress has had contentious relationships with NASCAR leadership over the years. His time as a team owner spans multiple decades and different variations of France family leadership. This lawsuit has brought out unforeseen circumstances. The Steve Phelps texts are perhaps the most egregious example so far.

Childress is known for being a character. He speaks his mind and isn’t afraid to make people mad. But we didn’t get much out of him Tuesday in regard to those “redneck” comments. According to Jordan Bianchi of The Athletic, Childress declined to comment about the text messages after his testimony. Childress has expressed interest in possibly seeking legal action over the comments.

Phelps, the NASCAR commissioner, reached out to Childress weeks ago to apologize for it, even before those messages were made public. “Stupid redneck” and “idiot” were terms thrown around by Phelps about the longtime NASCAR team owner. During his testimony, Phelps expressed regret over the text messages. However, the actual messages were not entered into evidence. Ahead of the trial, those messages were considered more prejudicial than probative.

On3’s Jonathan Howard contributed to this report.

General Motors Co. and Ford Motor Co. are making historic investments in motorsports as the two Detroit-based companies take on the world’s premier global performance brands in Formula One, Le Mans prototype racing and international GT sports car racing.

Add the third member of America’s Big Three, Toyota Motor Corp.

GM, Toyota and Ford are the new Big Three of U.S. sales with 18%, 15% and 14% market share, respectively (Stellantis is a distant sixth at 9%). And Tokyo-based Toyota is matching its competitors stride-for-stride in motorsports investment as well. With its announcement this month as title sponsor of the American-based MoneyGram Haas Formula One team, Toyota will compete in coming years with GM and Ford in F1, NASCAR and Le Mans endurance Hypercar and GT racing.

GM will compete in F1 with its Cadillac brand beginning in 2026, and Ford will partner with Red Bull. In NASCAR, Ford and GM’s Chevrolet brand compete. And in endurance racing, Cadillac (Hypercar) and Chevy Corvette (GT) carry the GM flag while Ford is entering Hypercar in 2027 and competes with the Mustang GT3 in GT racing.

NASCAR commissioner Steve Phelps touted the safety of the Next Gen car during his Tuesday testimony in the 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports versus NASCAR antitrust lawsuit trial. Phelps testified that the Next Gen car is the “safest car in all of motorsports.”

Phelps’ statement drew “audible gasps” in the Charlotte courtroom, according to Jenna Fryer of The Associated Press. 23XI co-owners Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin laughed. There was a reason for their laughter, as they recall the events of July 23, 2022. That afternoon at Pocono Raceway, then 23XI driver Kurt Busch crashed in qualifying. He suffered a severe concussion, one that forced him into retirement.

So, we go back to Phelps’ testimony that the Next Gen car is the “safest car in all of motorsports.” The plaintiffs’ attorney Jeffrey Kessler asked Phelps if he knew who Busch was and if the 2004 Cup Series champion retired due to a concussion. Phelps, per Adam Stern of Sports Business Journal, acknowledged that but noted the car was designed to prevent fatalities. He added that NASCAR later increased crumple zones.

NASCAR’s Steve Phelps makes big statement during testimony

Since the introduction of the Next Gen car in 2022, a number of drivers have suffered injuries while racing. Cody Ware was the most recent example in the Chicago Street Race. Erik Jones had a back injury in 2024. Noah Gragson missed a race in 2023 after a wreck. Alex Bowman missed a handful of races in 2022 after suffering a concussion in a wreck. Busch’s Hall of Fame career was cut short at Pocono.

Of course, there are examples of the Next Gen car holding up well in extreme wrecks. Ryan Preece and his flips show that the car can be safe and protect drivers in the worst situations.

Beyond safety, Phelps lauded the Next Gen car for improving the on-track product: “The racing is just better, so it has accomplished what I hoped it would accomplish.”

That’s a statement that might be controversial, as the superspeedway and short track product has been much criticized. That being said, intermediate races have largely been well-received by the NASCAR fanbase.