It’s not just Michael Jordan and Bob Jenkins who have genuine concerns regarding the new charter agreement. Before the two teams took NASCAR to court, the RTA was a unified alliance demanding a better piece of the revenue pie and permanent charters, among other things. However, just before the start of the playoffs after the Southern 500, NASCAR dropped the hammer with a “take it or leave it” offer.

Intimidated by the potential repercussions of losing out on charters, all but two teams bend their knee. And just like that, NASCAR was able to exercise its control over the race teams again. It was indeed surprising to see the likes of Hendrick Motorsports, Team Penske, and Joe Gibbs Racing bail out after standing firm for nearly two years. And this caught the eye of former NASCAR driver Jeremy Mayfield, who has shared his opinion on the legal drama that has unfolded.

Hendrick Motorsports and Team Penske could’ve partnered with Michael Jordan in his rebellion

Gone are the days when Fortune 500 companies lined up to feature on the race cars in NASCAR. Today the teams depend on multiple sponsors to fund their cars for the season and bank on the TV revenue to churn profits. The only big problem is that hardly any teams are making a profit after spending all their resources. Even Hendrick Motorsports hasn’t been profitable in the last 10 years.

So you see it isn’t just 23XI Racing and FRM who are demanding a better structure for the sport to be sustainable. But when the push came to shove, none of the top dogs of NASCAR were standing against NASCAR. Jeremy Mayfield, who’s had his run-ins with NASCAR in the courts that derailed his racing career, has now chimed in on the situation. The former Penske driver couldn’t help but highlight why the veteran owners couldn’t muster up the courage and stand up against NASCAR.

“What Jordan and them are doing is not something everybody in that arena hasn’t already said or done; they all want the same thing. The other ones just chickened out; they weren’t gonna stand up for themselves. All the other rest of the teams it goes from Hendrick to all the way down the line, and Roger and them, they don’t care; they got the money; Hendrick’s got the money.” Mayfield expressed this sentiment to Chase Holden during his YouTube show.

The response Rick Hendrick gave after agreeing to sign the new charter deal and not siding with 23XI Racing was that he was just tired of all the negotiation. Meanwhile, Richard Childress, pleading his case, stated, “I didn’t have a choice because we had to sign. I got over 400 employees, OEM in contract, contracts with sponsors, and I gotta take care of my team.” So it is evident that teams wanted a far better deal but had to settle against NASCAR’s might.

But Michael Jordan is acting like an ace in the hole, as he’s had no previous ties with the sport, and he certainly can give the France family a run for their money. “Richard Childress needs it. A lot of those teams need the money. So they are not going to upset them whatsoever. Now you’ve got a guy who doesn’t care what you think, which is the best thing that’s happened because he’s gonna hopefully pull the sport back into some type of normalcy,” Mayfield explained further.

Mayfield also touched upon the reason why teams hesitate to challenge NASCAR’s authority. He shared an example of how the sanctioning body maintained its power to keep the drivers and teams in line.

The story about the infamous speeding penalty

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Now there are plenty of ways that NASCAR could misuse its power and subdue the teams and drivers. While nothing can be said for certain, Mayfield said that everyone knew about their role and how going against NASCAR could be the end of their road. Now, Mayfield’s legal tussle with NASCAR is well documented, and he even shared how external forces apart from racing impacted his life on the Dale Jr. Download.

One of the subtle ways in which NASCAR got its point across during the races was the speeding penalties. “So things like that would happen all the time, and you couldn’t do anything and say nothing on the radio if you raised it on the radio. That’s bulls–t, then book oh speeding on pit road again. From that little stuff like that to all the way down the line, that’s what the fear was in the garage area; you just don’t challenge them.”

But, unlike the legacy race teams, the duo of Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin aren’t going to play by their rules. And this has invoked hope in Mayfield that they might come out victorious in this battle against NASCAR. “I mean, Front Row and the way they are, I mean, they wouldn’t have done that if Jordan and them hadn’t done it. They needed somebody bigger to do it. So Jordan, great enough guy, big enough guy, he can do what he wants to do, and I think it’s pretty cool that he’s done it.”

With the preliminary injunction granted, it does look like the teams have an upper hand going into the antitrust lawsuit. But expect more twists and turns in the lawsuit saga that just might change the course of NASCAR racing.