Baseball’s first commissioner, Kenesaw Mountain Landis, was 24 years into his time in the role and had just received a seven-year extension from the sport’s owners when he died on Nov. 25, 1944.
Elmer Layden was the NFL’s first commissioner for five years. Maurice Podoloff stepped down as the NBA’s first commissioner in 1963 after being with the league since its inception in 1946. Next month, Gary Bettman will celebrate his 33rd year as the NHL’s first, and thus far only, commissioner. Doug Logan, though his time as MLS’ first commissioner could be deemed a failure by many, still lasted nearly four years in the role.
On March 31, 2025, NASCAR made Steve Phelps the first person to hold the then-newly created role of commissioner to oversee the sport. Phelps announced he was stepping away from the position on Jan. 6, 2026. His tenure was nine months.
Few sports leagues make it 77 years into their existence before bestowing the role of commissioner onto someone. When NASCAR did so with Phelps back in March 2025, it came at one of the sport’s most turbulent times, most notably the 23XI Racing/Front Row Motorsports lawsuit that was on a collision course to go to court at season’s end.
Then again, Phelps’ connection and fingerprint was all over the sport well before taking on a new title. He had been in the league office for 20 years after a career in marketing with the NFL. He became NASCAR’s president in 2018 and from there started to make decisions that both shaped the sport as it is today and, in many ways, landed him on the stand in a courtroom in North Carolina last month.
His first big swing as NASCAR’s president came in 2019 when the league bought and took International Speedway Corporation private, thus taking over a dozen tracks that populate the league’s yearly schedule. While it created stability for many tracks that previously struggled to maintain its dates on the schedule, it also became a point of contention in the league’s charter negotiations — and eventually the antitrust lawsuit — as now NASCAR wasn’t just negotiating for its share of revenue as a league but as a track owner.
Phelps oversaw the sport’s installation of the Next Gen car, which met some of its intended goals while whiffing wildly on others. Its introduction in 2022 came with a plethora of problems as the league figured out new technology like digital rearview mirrors, single-lug-nut tires and cars bottoming out with the new underbody. But the most prevalent issue was safety. Multiple drivers — most notably Kurt Busch, whose career was effectively ended by an accident at Pocono Raceway — suffered concussions from otherwise benign crashes due to the car’s lack of crush spaces. NASCAR managed to course correct, but issues like airborne crashes and rocker panel fires are still common entering the fifth season of the car’s lifespan.
Phelps’ strength throughout his tenure was apparent. He was outstanding at marketing, or at least coming up with new things to market. In 2019, Phelps introduced the premier partner system that allowed multiple companies to be primary sponsors of the league’s top division, thus naming the clear-cut and concise NASCAR Cup Series. He helped the sport become the first major American sport to return from the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, using its exclusivity to help introduce it to new fans. Phelps also brought the sport to new fans by taking it to new places, seeing varying levels of success but undeniable interest with events like the Clash at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, the Chicago Street Race and the Cup Series’ first race in Mexico.
For as many new eyes Phelps’ ideas put on the sport, a lack of focus on important aspects of NASCAR made diehards avert their eyes. For all the effort NASCAR put into building their events as marquee, it wasn’t elevating its drivers alongside it. The Next Gen car reinvented racing at several tracks but made competitive battles nonexistent at others. The playoff system had become far more of a distraction than it was a selling point.
The result could be found in the TV ratings for the Cup Series during Phelps’ tenure as president. They went stagnant after the pandemic until they took a 14% dip last season when a portion of the schedule moved to Amazon Prime in the first year of a new seven-year media rights deal.
It is ironic that Phelps, a man whose job was to market NASCAR to new fans, became wildly unpopular with many fans over the course of his time as league president. All of the issues that have plagued the sport in 2025 came to a head all at once. For all the positives that came out of last year in NASCAR, they couldn’t break through the dark clouds the lawsuit and fan fatigue that hung over the sport.
But you don’t need to know about the last seven years of NASCAR to get to why Phelps wasn’t long for his role in the sport. Just the last seven weeks paints a pretty good picture as to the disconnect between Phelps and his customers.
Court documents from the 23XI/FRM v. NASCAR trial revealed text messages between NASCAR execs, including Phelps calling Richard Childress “a dumb redneck who owes his entire fortune to NASCAR.” When drivers like Denny Hamlin and Chase Elliott were announced to run in the now-dormant Camping World SRX Series, Phelps called them “just plain stupid” and said NASCAR needed to “put a knife in this trash series.”
It wasn’t just the intelligence of the biggest movers and shakers in NASCAR that Phelps would insult by the time a settlement was reached Dec. 11. In his testimony, he insulted the intelligence of anyone who considered themselves a fan of the sport. He said talks of potential legal action against SRX stemmed from the series looking too much like NASCAR, as if the audience wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between a car with a number on the front door and a car with a number on a giant rear wing.
Phelps decided to tout the safety of the Next Gen, a bold decision considering Busch’s career-ending concussion came while driving for one of the teams involved in the trial. When confronted about Busch’s crash by 23XI lawyer Jeffrey Kessler, Phelps called the Next Gen car “the safest car in motorsports” because the initial design was made to prevent fatalities. You know, the thing NASCAR hadn’t had in any of its previous designs since 2001.
Yet more frustrating in his testimony than what Phelps claimed to believe was what he claimed to not know. The majority of answers from NASCAR’s commissioner to questions from Kessler about his sport were pleads of ignorance; “I don’t know.”
It’s not fair to say all the issues NASCAR is faced with today fall at the feet of Phelps, but the attitude he held toward some people in the sport exposed in last month’s trial was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Phelps couldn’t be the face of a sport whose people he didn’t respect.
Phelps’ tenure will be remembered for how it ended, but his legacy in NASCAR will be determined by what sticks and what doesn’t from his big ideas in the years to follow. Maybe in 20 years we’ll all love the In-Season Tournament, or perhaps the Next Gen car will become a stepping stone into even better and safer racing.
As for the future of NASCAR, is he the only one who’ll be out by the time Daytona International Speedway comes next month? How does Phelps’ departure shake up future decisions concerning the Next Gen car or the playoff format?
To borrow a phrase from Phelps, I don’t know. Let’s just hope his replacement makes it longer than nine months.
James Krause joined Frontstretch in March 2024 as a contributor. Krause was born and raised in Illinois and graduated from Northern Illinois University. He currently works in Fort Wayne, Indiana covering minor league, college and high school sports. Outside of racing, Krause loves to keep up with football, music, anime and video games.
Thought provoking read.
I agree Phelps had to go. I understand his dirty laundry was via texts which he assumed would be private, but part of making millions of dollars in a leadership role is to assume any communication may become public, and act accordingly. His vitriol indeed saw the light of day, further damaged the sport he was employed to grow, and therefore it was either step aside, or be removed.
Let’s not get it twisted though. Phelps was but the figurehead of the true problem, which is of course NASCAR ownership. Phelps was doing what he was told to do. It seems clear he felt NASCAR should cede some ground to the car owners, and it also seems clear this would have headed off the lawsuit, as well as eliminating the public airing of all the behind the scenes nastiness.
Possibly it’s more complicated than I realize, but it seems NASCAR is yet again failing in the wake of Phelps exiting the organization. The car owners got much of what they wanted. NASCAR staved off what could have been a forced breakup of their monopoly. Yet, next to nothing has been said to the fans.
NASCAR had a golden opportunity here…release a public statement to the fans, saying “We hear you, we made some mistakes, and we are sorry. Here are the changes we are making to heal and improve the sport.” It’s blindingly obvious…change the narrative! But no, we get radio silence.
Here we are, five weeks from the Daytona 500, and no one knows if any meaningful change is afoot, in a time when NASCAR is hemorrhaging fans and respect. Whether this is due to arrogance, incompetence, or a combination of both, the France family should be embarrassed at their mismanagement of what should be a license to print money.
I don’t have any false sense of importance here…NASCAR’s fans are but a commodity to the business. Just as with any sport, nearly all business decisions are made through the lens of making money. In this case though, I cannot see how they plan to continue as a viable organization, when nearly every decision (or non-decision) they make runs counter to basic business sense. The inmates are indeed running the asylum.
I might be off base and reading more into it than is there, but I think his comments about Childress expose how he really feels about the fans and sponsors of NASCAR – at least the old ones. For the last 20 years he has been trying to “attract new fans”, but every decision seemed to be mis-directed or possibly incompetent as they generally alienated the existing “old school” fan base. Now I’m thinking it was all intentional, that he has nothing but contempt for NASCAR’s southern roots, its blue collar fans, and sponsors. I think he feels the old fans (and sponsors) are all beneath him, and he was purposely trying to run us all off in favor of “better” fans and sponsors who are more acceptable to his class status and ego.
Throw the France family heirs into that boat too, as they seem to have zero amount of humble appreciation for those who have supported NASCAR to make their inherited fortunes possible.
I don’t disagree with any of your points. I think Phelps was a near perfect mirror of ownership. His misguided dialogs are strong indicators about NASCAR’s culture behind the scenes.
NASCAR was in a bit of a box, with some older fans who wouldn’t accept any change, which we know because they loudly proclaim(ed) as much. But without some change, NASCAR had little hope of attracting enough new fans to remain viable. The old fan base (me included) is just that…old. We are no longer the age where advertising moves our meters much, and let’s face it, the eldest fans are beginning to die off.
So, NASCAR had to change. They were always going to lose some of the original fan base, probably more than most sports. Few people like change, and I’d argue NASCAR’s old school fans are even even less open to change than most. As a born and bred Southerner, it was obvious to me NASCAR’s fan base was never going to handle any change gracefully.
Honestly, I genuinely applaud some of the off track changes. (Many don’t. Again, Southerners and change generally do not mix.) I believe the largest mistake NASCAR made to harm viewership was chasing “entertainment”, and losing sight of the style of racing which caused NASCAR to ascend in the first place.
Well said, and ditto.
I consider myself an old school fan although I began watching Nascar in 1994. I prefer the entire season points format, no stage racing, no lucky dog etc. I hated every change Brian France enacted as it went along. As for being dismissed as an older demographic that Phelps and Nascar no longer seemingly desires to have watch their series and as other commenters allude to, I must say as an official Nielsen ratings participant (yes that one) here in the Pittsburgh area, I represent approximately 10,000 viewers and would like to think that as a 56 year old viewer that really counts , Nascar would still care to have me and my 24 year old son’s eyeballs watching their broadcasts! Yes also the Amazon ones–which are the best IMO. Point being- do not discount longtime fans. Thank you
Before I blather on with another boring reply, your Neilsen comment made me curious.
I once was a participant in that program. Back then at least, it seemed a moderate amount of work for very little compensation. I’m guessing that’s changed in the modern era, and you just have a box which monitors your viewing? If so, does it track viewing of streaming services? Does it track all TVs in the house, or just one?
To your well written points, I’ve been a fan since around 1980. Young enough I barely remember the first race I attended at Martinsville, in 1981. We completely agree stage racing is silly, though I’d have no problem with stages if they’d stop throwing cautions for them. That wouldn’t be much different than the old halfway bonus back in the 80’s. Personally, I think the playoffs are silly as well.
I don’t mind the free pass, as before this, lap down cars lined up beside lead lap cars on restarts, which created some ugly restarts. Without one or the other, going a lap down is nearly a death sentence for the day, as rare would be the car which could pass all lead lap cars in any given stint. There are too many opportunities to go a lap down due to pit strategy, tire failure, etc. for me to support eliminating the free pass.
As to ageism within NASCAR, whether we like it or not, advertisers absolutely discount older fans, and advertisers pay the bills. From their perspective, I get it. On average, younger viewers are more impressionable as to what they do with their expendable income, and brands aligning with a younger demographic then have more future stability, so long as they can hang onto some of those young customers.
There are rare exceptions which flourish with an older demographic…golf comes to mind. But golf tends to have an affluent customer base, with the financial wherewithal to spend at levels which overcome being less impressionable. Meanwhile, NASCAR’s average customer base (me included) isn’t as wealthy. Mercedes Benz and Rolex don’t need to sell many items to golf fans for it to make sense. Chevy and McDonalds need that economy of scale.
I don’t know anyone around my age who buys much of anything because it’s a “cool” brand. But when I was younger, I absolutely would, as would many of my friends. I don’t think this has changed much over the years. Advertisers court this tendency.
I’m going to derail the topic a bit here just to be adversarial. lol I don’t like the free pass. Likewise, I didn’t like lining up a row of lap down cars inside the leaders either. Guess I’m more hardcore and cold hearted, but IMO if a team makes a mistake – or has some kind of misfortune – and gets themselves a lap down early, I think they need to race (or strategize) to get it back. The lap times and competition at this level are so close, it’s hard for other teams to capitalize on errors when the impact is negated by “free passes”.
That said, under caution I would be for bringing all cars only 1 lap down to pit lane with the leaders. This would allow a lap down car to make up ground both on the track and in the pits, as they would line up for the restart based on the pit-out sequence. They would have a legitimate chance to race back through the field and unlap themselves.
Back to topic: advertising. Older folks generally spend on products they already know, so advertisers don’t have to work as hard to keep them. BUT, as pointed out, older folks often have kids around them that often share at least a few similar interests (especially race fans, in general, I have found). From that viewpoint, you would think the older crowd would be worth keeping around. Once they quit tuning in, their younger counterparts likely will too, as they’ll find something else to do with dad/mom/grandma/grandpa and that sentimental connection will be lost.
I hear you on lap down stuff. If it were just mistakes and mechanical issues which caused cars to fall off the lead lap, I’d probably agree. In most forms of motorsports, a competitive car can make a pit stop without losing a lap. But with NASCAR, a routine pit stop often results in losing one or more laps.
Sure, teams could all switch to the Keselowski strategy of running until they absolutely have to pit, but that would likely impair the quality of racing.
Keeping lap down cars in order with lead lap cars is an interesting idea. I think part of the rationale has been pit safety, but there are many pit stops where nearly all the field is on the lead lap, and therefore pits together. I love your idea!
I’d go one step farther…all cars pit together, and any car within two laps of the leader may keep their position. With tracks like Bristol, it’s not at all unusual for a leading car to emerge two laps down until the pit cycle is complete. Would be fun to watch someone like Chastain fight the leader to get one lap back, then try to stay ahead long enough to see a caution to bring him back around. Having them all pit together should also result in shorter cautions.
Yes there is a box on every tv. You have assigned numbers you have to hit every 42 minutes.(im number 2 my wife is one). If a visitor comes to watch (such as my 24 yr old son)you enter their age and sex. It does track all streaming and internet browsing as well. The compensation is a pitiful 25 bux for 3 months. Its not for everyone thats for sure. I questioned why us but they told me advertisers wanted our demographic. Go figure.
Most people see the world through the field they have been working in.
Marketing people should not lead companies. IT nerds should lead IT companies. Engineers should lead automotive & aerospace companies. Racers should lead racing series. Companies should build good/desirable products, sports, etc. and then the marketing people should help make the companies successful. Most of the time it does not work to figure out the marketing first and then try to back into a product, sport, etc.
Phelps along with all of the NASCAR executives AND many of NASCARs tame media have disrespected the fans along with the owners and drivers. People who spoke out were stomped on during radio shows etc so they voted with their wallets Plus moving race broadcasts all over the place is a major pain for the fans trying to watch on tv. I have a prime account but since the races imo were simply not worth watching I didn’t tune in. However my elderly relative was very frustrated by not knowing where and how to watch. I’d go to his house and set it up for him but honestly why do we need to do it
they have a lot of things to correct better get to it
He did nothing more than Ben Kennedy did, but Nepotism is strong.
One down, the rest of the France family to go. He brought nothing to the organization and produced nothing. Next one that needs to go is dementia Jim.
It’s all ugly. He threw out nearly every safety innovation from the Dale Earnhardt death. When drivers reported being injured by the new car, he told them to get used to it. He is absolute trash but the sad thing is except for two teams every other team and drivers would walk 100 miles on their knees to service this man. Nearly 100% of the fans would do the same. Denny Hamlin is my new favorite driver, as he is the ONLY driver who realizes he is the show. Even Kyle Larson, who is known and respected worldwide bows down to NASCAR. Chase Elliot, “fan favorite ” bows to NASCAR, constantly sucking up. Very sad.
Too many races every year lead to boredom each season. 28 races should be the maximum. I miss the days of Richard Petty, David Pearson, Cale YarboroughBobby Allison and Buddy Baker showing up in a stock-looking car and running 500 laps at a classic track at 1:00 pm. Was that really too much to ask for?
You forgot Harry Gant and Ricky Rudd. Now its “Mommy! It’s tooooo hot!”
Great comments by everyone
To add, I think Phelps forgot one key component about the “old” fans. These are the people that get the next generation of fans to be interested in Nascar. I am one of them.
All my youth, my father would watch the races every Sunday afternoon and I would sometimes sit down and watch with him. That’s how I got exposed to the sport. It was and never would have been because of any Nascar marketing or advertising. By the time I got out of college, I was watching the races every Sunday too, sometimes with my dad. If that’s not the best way to create a new fan, I don’t know what is.
What’s crazy is this was happening long before I came along. How did Nascar drop the ball on this? To be fair, Brian France and the Nascar media to an extent started it all telling us all to just shut up and like it, while changing things that basically ruined the sport (the playoffs, COT, fake debris cautions for desired game 7 moments, etc). Then the chase for corporate money leaving many traditional markets. The fans in those new markets never showed up and the old school fans had had enough. That was the beginning of the downfall.
As a side note, I no longer watch the races every Sunday. I barely watch the end of some races. I also do not go to races anymore nor spend on merchandise. They pushed me away and I have been watching from afar since.
I’m hopeful that positive change is coming as a result of the court case and crappy rating this year. Its in Nascars best interest if it still wants to be the premiere racing series in the US.