One week ago, on Thursday, Dec. 11, the biggest trial in NASCAR history was settled. But the fallout from it is still far from settling down.
It was that Thursday morning when the NASCAR vs. 23XI Racing/Front Row Motorsports antitrust lawsuit concluded with both sides reaching an agreement. The result? The teams got everything they wanted, including permanent charters and a share of all international revenue.
But is who gets the money all that’s changed as a result of this case? As many fans have asked Frontstretch this week, what will result from the trial to make the sport better for them?
It’s a big question, almost impossible to answer this quickly, so let’s start here: have there been or will there be changes within NASCAR’s leadership because of everything discovered from this trial?
For many, change feels inevitable. NASCAR took an absolute pounding in the court of public opinion during this trial, whether it be the text messages and emails where insults were hurled around, the stubbornness of NASCAR CEO Jim France shown through those messages and his testimony or the revelation that the France family has NASCAR handle their taxes for them. Whether it’s justified or not, the segment of fans who already felt that NASCAR leadership doesn’t care about them and/or is incompetent now feel vindicated, with others now joining their cause.
When the message sent by NASCAR Commissioner Steve Phelps calling Richard Childress a “dumb redneck” went public, it felt like Phelps’ days in the sport may be numbered. There are still a lot of fans who would describe themselves as rednecks (heck, I consider myself at least a bit of one as a journalist). To use that word in a disparaging way, leading this sport, I just don’t see how it’s possible for him to ever come back from that.
Phelps’ future in NASCAR became even more questionable when Bass Pro Shops founder and CEO Johnny Morris wrote a letter critical of Phelps. That letter was released the day before the trial got cut short, and if you didn’t notice, Phelps was nowhere to be seen around the courthouse on settlement day. I don’t know if that’s because he had a prior commitment, if NASCAR thought he should lay low after the Morris letter or if it meant he wasn’t going to be around much longer.
Nothing has been said by Phelps or NASCAR to indicate the former won’t be back next year, but it’d probably be best for everyone if Phelps resigned from his role. I think he’s a good guy who did a lot of good his first few years as president. Reading between the lines of the text messages, it felt like he really was trying to do the right things. But you don’t have to convince me, NASCAR; the fans are going to be much more difficult to convince that Phelps sticking around would be a good thing. Maybe the PGA still wants him.
But if Phelps is the lone casualty in the trial aftermath, all he would be is the fall guy. Jim France would still be the one calling the shots. If France is still in charge next year, then all this trial produced was a bunch of billionaires and millionaires swapping money. From a fan’s perspective, it’s hard to point to things actually changing in terms of the sport’s future direction. The trial is resolved, but many of the problems that fans have (like the Next Gen car, the playoff format, stage racing) still exist. If France is as stubborn about those things as he was about permanent charters, then how will any groundbreaking change truly happen for the fans to rally behind?
I argued last year that France wasn’t doing a good job as CEO (this was after it took 27 minutes to decide whether William Byron or Christopher Bell would make the Championship 4) with an article on Frontstretch titled NASCAR Had Better Leadership With Brian France. Of course, many fans only read the headline and thought it was absurd. And to be fair, I probably could’ve done a better job at illustrating my point that, no, Brian France returning as CEO wouldn’t be a magic pill to save NASCAR. The point was that things had gotten so low among the fanbase that it seemed NASCAR wasn’t any better off with Jim instead of Brian.
Since then, have things gotten better? Ratings were incredibly low during the playoffs, and this trial gave NASCAR so much negative publicity. The good news is the playoff format is supposedly going to change, but the season has been over for over a month and there’s still no word on what the new format will be (NASCAR could earn a lot of much-needed positive PR by announcing a full-season points format ASAP).
I’m not the only media member calling into question Jim France as CEO. On Dec. 12, The Athletic published an article by Jeff Gluck saying that it’s time for France to step aside. For someone of Gluck’s stature — he’s been working in NASCAR for over 20 years, has become somewhat of a household name in NASCAR homes, is a fan favorite and is genuinely one of the nicest people you could ever meet — to say that about France is the latest sign he’s losing support.
Maybe the plan already is for France to step down as CEO at the end of the year. As with Phelps, no one has heard one way or the other. In France’s case, like with Phelps, there is no way he can recover with the fanbase after what was discovered during the trial. Would he really miss the $3.5 million CEO salary when the Frances would still be making millions and not paying taxes as owners of NASCAR? Plus, the guy is 81 years old. He should enjoy some retirement time without the stresses of running the premier stock car racing division in the U.S.
Gluck said in his article that current NASCAR Executive Vice President and Chief Venue & Racing Innovations Officer (and France’s great nephew) Ben Kennedy should become the new CEO. I disagree with that. Kennedy might do a great job, but he is still a member of the France family. The fans will not universally accept anyone from that family running NASCAR for the time being despite Ben’s great reputation in the industry. Plus, Kennedy is only 33 years old and could probably stand to learn from someone else for a bit before eventually becoming the CEO.
As things stand, NASCAR needs to hire fresh blood to be its new CEO. It needs an outsider with a strong will but who is also looking to collaborate with his/her employees, the teams and others involved. It needs someone who will be visible in the right way, unlike Brian France was and Jim France currently isn’t. Charisma would be an added plus.
If NASCAR wants to make a big splash in hiring a new CEO, then go get someone like Tony Stewart. Having played the roles of a racer, a team owner and a series leader/owner (see: SRX), Stewart would automatically have the respect of both peers and fans alike. Plus, his larger-than-life, take-no-crap persona would insert a plethora of personality into a league that’s been lacking that from top to bottom. Yet one would imagine he would present that persona to the public while, behind closed doors, work closely and listen to those he needs to.
Would Stewart want to do a job like that? I lean toward no, which is why I said “someone like” him. But you never know. After his falling out of love with NASCAR, it would be a cool full-circle moment.
Whether it’s Stewart or someone else, it’s clear after this trial NASCAR could use a major shakeup in its leadership structure. Its leadership needs to earn back the respect of the fans, and that’ll be a whole lot easier with some fresh faces at the very top instead of heading into the holidays as if nothing happened at all.
Michael Massie joined Frontstretch in 2017 and has served as the Content Director since 2020.
Massie, a Richmond, Va., native, has covered NASCAR, IndyCar, SRX and the CARS Tour. Outside of motorsports, the Virginia Tech grad and Green Bay Packers minority owner can be seen cheering on his beloved Hokies and Packers.
If NASCAR does not make changes, and soon, the franchise will be in quicksand. Get rid of the car chassis all being the same. Bring back the rebel flag, in the southern racetracks. A cup of beer for $2.00 .
Oh, since charters are permanent now, Rick Hendrick, Roger Penske, Richard Childress, and Joe Gibb should at least have a couple seats on the board. Pick two or of the four.
Fire Phelps, as previously mentioned, hire Tony Stewart as CEO, and put Jr and Kelly on the board of directors. Jim can go back and play with IMSA until he gets tired and goes home to stream NASCAR races.
As likely as anywhere to be seen by the NASCAR faithful. Plane crash this morning involving a plane owned by Greg Biffle. That part is confirmed.
Edit – WCNC Statesville reporting early reports were correct. Biffle and family killed in crash. Sad day.
Very sad indeed. From what I understand (I never met him), he was a great guy. I know he did a lot to help in the wake of recent natural disasters. I’m sure his wife and kids were good people too. All of them taken way too soon.
Yep. Sad no matter whose life was taken, but I saw the same thing about him flying emergency supplies to flood/hurricane victims. Seems he was very much a good egg. (He would not have been the pilot today. His license was for a different classification of aircraft.)
Another article that absolutely hits the bullseye, from all angles. From a fan perspective, nothing has changed, other than NASCAR’s lack of respect for their fans (and everyone else) has been laid bare. Until I see sweeping changes from a rules perspective, which wipe away all the “game 7” nonsense both in the championship as well as individual races, I’ll continue to think The Who said it best…
“Meet the new boss
Same as the old boss”
And the France’s still own NASCAR and the lions’ share of the tracks. “Same as the old boss” indeed.
Nice article, Michael.
Nascar, should bring back Mike Helton, and let him put a group together to govern the sport with the same enthusiasm and admiration of the late Mr. H.A. Wheeler. He never forgot about the Fans!!
One takeaway I got from this is that it is going to nearly impossible for any new owners to get a foot in the door. If a franchise now costs over 100 million, who is going to take the chance of sinking that kind of money is a race team? Not sure how this is going to shake out in the long run.
Don’t really understand people saying that…….the only way charters could be worth 100 million is if there is indeed new buyers willing to pay that.
They only are worth what buyers are willing to pay and demand for them……….
oh, and as for Phelps…IM or texts or email, particularly on machines owned by the business can’t be used in place of the spoken word. Any honest person has had negative thoughts about colleagues or employers at work. Most can keep them as “thought bubbles” only while others tell a fellow confidant or spouse. But never, ever, ever, put it in writing. No one would have their noses out of joint if that was just a simple phone call instead of an IM.
No key stroke made, whether deleted or not, is ever completely erased. Nascar needs Phelps capabilities. Richard Childress, who had his team on the market it appears, hasn’t always chosen his words carefully. He even markets himself as a “redneck”. In fact, many wear it as a badge of honor (myself included), but in a lawsuit he called the term “insensitive and defamatory.” I’ve met both parties several times and both are great guys. Losing Phelps at this point in time would be a problem for Nascar. He and O’Donnell are the stop gap until a France family member born after Richard Petty retired is ready to take over.
Its really up to old RC to decide if he privately wants to get rid of Phelps or whether he thinks Phelps at the helm is ‘good for business.’ If he does, a joint press conference will address the public outcry from our overly sensitive society.
I see your point, but it’s likely moot. A defeat as thorough as what NASCAR suffered must have a fall guy. Phelps best fits the bill, and to be honest, it looks to me he like his wounds were self-inflicted.
Agree. Part of having that level of job is being accountable if actions result in detrimental impact to the employer, whether intentional or otherwise.
There almost certainly will be a fall guy, and the Frances certainly aren’t going to fire themselves. They may rearrange their deck chairs on the Titanic, but they won’t kick anyone off the boat.
Richard Childress was only selling a small percentage of his team while keeping full control. The Team will eventually be run by the Dillon boys not someone not related to Childress.
Totally agree with Johnny Morris! I was glad to see someone put into words what I was thinking – although he did it much more eloquently than I would have.
The best thing for NASCAR — and this is totally a pipe dream — would be for Kelley and Dale Jr to buy the France family out. Kick them all to the curb with one final (large) paycheck, then bring in Tony Stewart to help them create a team and run it.
At bare minimum Jim France, Steve Phelps, and Steve O’Donnell need to go. Then, they need to admit Smokey Yunick into the HOF and give Carl Long his $200,000 back plus interest. Then they need to stop with the stage break cautions, eliminate the “playoff” system, quit doing “green white checker” finishes, and fix the car to be more reliant on mechanical grip than aero. If they do that, then maybe… maybe I’ll give them another chance.
Agree with lots of the posts above…but…. Tony ain’t coming back, which is too bad,he’d do a great job. Dale and Kelley would also be great, but again, not happening. But yes, get rid of the Steve’s, Jim and Lisa, no more Frances period.
Redo the car , it’s crap, no playoffs or stupid green white checkered flag, or stage breaks…you know…just plain ole racing!!!
The younger crowd you so desperately try to aim at are NOT coming to the tracks or watching on any platform. Sorry.
So… the balls in NA$CARs court, I expect a big fumble … again…… prove an old race fan wrong, PLEASE!!!!
Unfortunately, I think you’re right about Tony and Dale Jr. Jr has long been a student and advocate for NASCAR history and I believe truly loves the series. He’d be a great steward to lead them out of the darkness. I think Tony has a lot of passion for racing in general, and if the France’s were out of the picture perhaps his perception of NASCAR could change. Enough to be involved in it again? Like you say, doubtful.
Younger fans. I find it interesting hearing as much as I do about Gen Z (I think that’s the right one) kind of regressing. By that I mean they are not as interested in social media as much, love music on older formats (vinyl and cassettes), and enjoy a lot of things “retro” in general, so there’s hope maybe they’ll also be into racing?
And totally agree, I think we all expect little to change and hope they prove us old fans wrong!
I’ve been a NASCAR fan for 50-ish years. Playoffs –> I’m OK with some kind of playoff system, just not 4 drivers in one championship race. Maybe playoff with 6 races to widdle 16 down to 6 drivers and those 6 battle it out over the final 4 races. Stage racing –> I’m OK with stage racing. It makes the racing more exciting to fight for position in the middle of the race and does allow a racer to salvage a day that does not end well. Get rid of the stage-ending caution flags, just keep going. Green-White-Checkers –> I like these. I HATED, when back in the day, I’d watch a race for 3+ hours, and the race ends on a CAUTION flag….lame!!! It happened TOO MANY times. Make them RACE for the win. Keep the GWC.
I also don’t mind the stages, it’s the stopping the race at the end of each one that disrupts the natural flow of the race and strategy I don’t like. As for GWC, if they didn’t usually wind up in a race ending in a demolition derby I might think differently, but for a driver to run great all day just to be taken out during a GWC desperation hail mary move from a car that’s been mid-pack or worse all day… that doesn’t sit right with me either. I think there has to be some kind of line drawn – after X many laps a red flag will be thrown immediately if caution comes out and race will be restarted with that many laps remaining (at this point, circuits behind pace car will not be counted, and pit road is closed – once track is clear, get back to racing ASAP as the cars were before the caution). After X many laps, race will end under caution if a caution comes out.
Agree 100% on stages. Keep ’em, but stop throwing cautions.
As for GWC, that’s a tough one. You and I are both Indycar fans, and I do have to say it’s a bit of a letdown when a race ends under caution. Ditto F1.
I also agree the “rock ’em sock ’em NASCARS” which happen with so many GWC finishes make the sport look silly, and tears up ridiculous amounts of machinery. Oftentimes, a car which has no business winning winds up in victory lane, just due to attrition due to drivers going clownshoes racing ahead of them.
Any GWC on a tapered spacer track or road course is nearly guaranteed to cause further accidents, whether it’s due to the hail mary you mentioned, or in the case of road courses, a total dive bomb, planning to use the cars ahead to make the turn.
I tend to lean toward removing the GWC, and deal with the letdown of races which end under caution. The reality is 90%+ of the time, whoever is leading when that late caution falls has run well enough they would win anyway, barring the contrived finish. So while it’s anticlimactic, it still awards the rightful winner most of the time.
It also means the remainder of the race mattered. No different than an NFL game where one team has a huge lead in the 4th quarter. Not exciting, but again, not everything needs to be “game 7”.
I think you just described Jeff Burton