While the week between two races is one filled with silence, the days between Kansas and Talladega have been eventful for NASCAR fans. With Michael Jordan’s 23XI filing an anti-trust lawsuit against NASCAR, tension is in the air. Fans are concerned about charter deals, and Richard Childress just threw a spanner in the works with all the talk of legal action.

Days after 23XI and Front Row Motorsports filed an anti-trust lawsuit, Richard Childress opened up about the terrifying road NASCAR took as his team signed the deal for their 2025 charters.

Richard Childress confesses to making a difficult choice for the sake of his team

Richard Childress is no stranger to controversy. Just a few weeks ago, when Austin Dillon’s playoff eligibility was stripped due to his aggressive maneuver against Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano at Richmond, Richard Childress vehemently supported his team. As NASCAR rejected Dillon’s appeals and took 25 points away, Childress had a lot to say about the ruling. “Their ruling has changed NASCAR racing on the final lap forever.” 

Just a few weeks later, Childress inked his charter deal with NASCAR, a long-pending affair. While Childress didn’t reveal anything then, 23XI and Front Row Motorsports’ anti-trust lawsuit against NASCAR gave him the perfect opportunity to make his revelation. According to Richard Childress, when the team signed the deal, they did so under a huge time crunch, getting roughly 6 hours to review the documents and hand them in. When Bob Pockrass asked Childress if he was keeping up with the ongoing anti-trust controversy, he laid bare the truth of what happened.

Childress said, “We’ve read it all. I can’t comment a whole lot now because the attorneys are handling a lot of that. But I will say that the part about, we got our docu-sign signed that evening at 6:37 when it came in. And we had to sign by 12 o’clock or we’d lose our charters. I didn’t have a choice because we had to sign. We have over 400 employees, OEM contracts, and sponsors, and I gotta take care of our team.”

Given that negotiations between teams and NASCAR have been going on for months, there was a sense of surprise for Childress, especially since they had less than six hours to sign the deal. It forced Richard Childress’ hand because the matter was not just about revenue, it was about protecting Richard Childress Racing. The team has hundreds of employees whose livelihood depends on the company’s survival. Moreover, RCR also has its sponsors to think about. Just earlier this year, they penned a multi-year deal with SENIX for both their cars and signed an extension for the Dow deal on Austin Dillon‘s car. The discontinuation of their charter may have invoked legal action from not just these two sponsors, but all their sponsors as well.

Richard Childress’ statement only backed up what Jeffrey Kessler alluded to when news of the lawsuit broke out. Kessler, a Partner and Co-Executive Chairman at Winston & Strawn LLP that handles the lawsuit for Jordan and Co. reported that teams were given a 100-page document and told to sign it within a few hours or lose their charter. This take-it-or-leave-it approach forced most teams to sign the deal since the alternative meant their employees would essentially lose their jobs.

Additionally, Richard Childress’ revelation comes just a few days after reports emerged about threats being made to teams to get them to sign a new deal. Hendrick Motorsports owner Rick Hendrick went as far as to admit he signed the new deal simply because he was tired. A week after he signed the documents, he publicly stated, “I think we worked really hard for two years and it got down to, you’re not going to make everybody happy. And I think it got down to, I was just tired.” 

As for Richard Childress, it came as a double blow. First, he was dealt with the largest fine in NASCAR history thanks to Austin Dillon’s Richmond wreck. In the weeks following that, he was forced to choose between saving the charter, the team he built, and his employees, or fighting to get better terms in a year where negotiations with NASCAR had a tough fight. Following these ordeals, was he happy when 23XI and Front Row Motorsports teamed up to file the anti-trust lawsuit?

How does Childress feel about the lawsuit?

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2024 has been a difficult year for Richard Childress Racing. Whether it’s the issues of signing the new deal or the team’s obvious struggles on the track, the season has been no picnic. Hence, after the lawsuit, talking about the pressure of signing the deal in such little time could have been a moment of relief for the NASCAR legend. During the conversation with Childress, Bob Pockrass asked if he was happy about the two teams taking a stand against NASCAR.

He went on to say, “Bob, I don’t know how you phrase ‘happy’ on this. I would just say that I don’t think we can join.  It’s way too early to talk about all the legal stuff. NASCAR hasn’t even came back with an answer. I’m sure they’re looking at antitrust attorneys. I know they are.” Richard Childress declined to join the lawsuit due to concerns that a favorable outcome for Jordan and Co. could disadvantage teams that have already signed agreements. Specifically, if the lawsuit succeeds, teams that have inked deals may be unable to benefit from the revised terms, including fixed media revenue and other contractual provisions.

Richard Childress believes that if 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports prevail in their lawsuit, they may be the only teams to benefit from improved terms. As the sole plaintiffs, their unsigned contracts make them uniquely positioned to reap advantages from a favorable outcome.

The verdict’s timing remains uncertain, but 23XI and Front Row Motorsports have an experienced advocate in Jeffrey Kessler. A seasoned sports lawyer, Kessler’s notable cases include:

– McNeil v. NFL
– Brady v. NFL
– O’Bannon v. NCAA
– Alston v. NCAA
– NBA v. NBPA
– USWNT v. U.S. Soccer Federation
– FIA v. Arrows Grand Prix International

Kessler’s expertise bolsters the teams’ chances in this high-stakes dispute.