Every battle has this tipping point that unleashes chaos. For the past two years, the Race Team Alliance in the Cup Series has been negotiating with NASCAR. Permanent charters, greater slices of the pie, and a bigger say in executive decisions floated as dreams in teams’ minds. But all of that arrived at an impasse when a binding ultimatum was imposed on teams on September 6th. One team owner said they felt like a gun was pointed at their head.

But only Michael Jordan, Denny Hamlin, and Bob Jenkins held out and attempted dialogue with the sanctioning body. What followed was a scathing exchange of words between the entities that we all know were unsuccessful as 23XI Racing ended up suing NASCAR. But the details offer clarity into the NASCAR lawsuit, as revealed recently.

The to-and-fro dialogue that failed and pushed Michael Jordan

23XI Racing fields two cars with Bubba Wallace and Tyler Reddick, the latter vying for the Cup Series championship. Co-owner Curtis Polk stated that the team plans to invest about $2.5 million in equipment for a third car in 2025, along with hiring an additional 27-32 full-time employees for their new facility, Airspeed. However, Jordan and Hamlin are risking these investments to transform the sport. They entered this high-stakes situation by refusing to sign the 2025 charter deal and engaging in a heated verbal conflict with NASCAR. Bob Pockrass revealed the details of their correspondence in a series of posts on X.

When 23XI first wrote, citing the short timeline (6 hours) and lack of negotiation surrounding the charter signing, NASCAR communicated it is not “a failure of good faith.”

The recent court filing included back-and-forth communications between 23XI and Steve Phelps, including a Sept. 18 letter, where the NASCAR president wrote, “It appears after 2 years of negotiations with teams, both collectively and individually, compromise and concession on both sides up until the last minute, we firmly believe that we have come up with a document that is fair and equitable to the industry. You suggest that NASCAR somehow has ‘monopoly power’ and that 23XI and other teams ‘depend on (NASCAR) for a competitive opportunity’ and have been presented with a ‘take-it-or-leave-it offer.’ We feel — and our attorneys have confirmed — that this contention is misplaced — and similar types of claims have already been rejected by courts.”

Then NASCAR also listed the complete timeline of negotiation; a 3-page meeting list scheduled after June 2022 till Sept. 6th, 2024. 23XI fired back. To which now 23XI has also replied, saying, “The use of monopoly power to impose non-negotiable terms on those who depend on you for a competitive opportunity is without question bad faith.” 

Then in their closing argument, Steve Phelps and Co. listed another timeline of all the concessions granted. But their ending note was significantly ominous: “Obviously if you decide not to execute your Charter Agreement(s) then you are welcome to race in the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series as an open team and we will be happy to forward you documentation. Whether you renew or not, NASCAR looks forward to working with you in 2025 and beyond.”

That was the last nail in the coffin as all friendly negotiations ceased. Now team Michael Jordan is rolling their sleeves for a final showdown.

Jordan and Co. are not going to budge

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The complaints were rampant for the past two years. Problems with the Next-Gen car, spending more on its parts, and lack of sponsorships are some of the issues that may have toppled Stewart-Haas Racing from its 16-year, 70-time Cup race-winning tenure. Even Rick Hendrick admitted earlier this year that his team has not made profits in some time.

So Bob Jenkins, Front Row Motorsports owner, fired back at NASCAR’s claim of granting enough concessions. “We didn’t get anything we wanted. We got a bigger percentage of the purse (than before), but NASCAR got the right to spend a lot more of that money.”

Jenkins added that the lawsuit will change the perspective on how things really stand. “Once (the charter agreements) become public, I think the typical race fan will look at this and say, ‘Wow, this really was a very onerous deal for the owners.’” 

On Wednesday, team Michael Jordan filed a motion for expedited discovery of crucial documents that reveal NASCAR’s monopolistic attitude. 23XI co-owner Curtis Polk said these would also be an eye-opener for others. “I hope that our filings today highlight for Cup teams, their drivers, employees, sponsors and fans how restrictive is the economic system that we operate under. This system is what enabled a take-it-or-leave-it offer, coupled with the threat of losing our charters, on September 6.”

Evidently, the plot is getting steamier by the day. NASCAR has fixed the hearing for October 16th. So let us see how this legal battle commences for Michael Jordan and Co.