The turmoil set off by the NASCAR lawsuit does not have a precedent. In the sport’s 76-year-long history, the France family has called the shots in almost everything. Ranging from stipulating racing rules to dictating what car parts teams will use, it has been a monopoly. And that is what NASCAR race teams and drivers have been used to. The high decibel of 200 mph cars went hand-in-hand with the commanding voice of NASCAR.

As Michael Jordan and his compatriots seek to revolutionize the sport, traditional faces are skeptical. After all, NASCAR has thrived and survived for so long under this monopolistic rule. So a Cup Series veteran crew chief and Richard Petty’s former ally raised his eyebrows at this novelty, bashing Jordan and others due to their relatively young presence.

Veteran scoffs at NASCAR lawsuit

“Do they really think they’re going to get a better deal by dragging this out?” A NASCAR executive laughed at 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports’ rebellious stance. NASCAR released the new charter deal on September 6th, binding teams in a 1-hour ultimatum initially. Upon pressure, they extended it to 7 hours, and most team owners, including heavyweights like Rick Hendrick and Richard Childress, agreed. These owners have decades of leverage in the sport. So when they agreed, how could Michael Jordan, whose team is merely 4 years old, file the NASCAR lawsuit?

That is what former Petty Enterprises advisor Larry McReynolds argued in a recently released Instagram post. He initially supported the basic idea of the NASCAR lawsuit: “I’m all about change. Change is what makes you better.” But the two-time Daytona 500-winning crew chief has dealt with drivers like Dale Earnhardt and Davey Allison. So he prioritized the value of experience, taking a harsh jibe at Michael Jordan. “When I see Richard Childress, Jack Roush, Rick Hendrick, and Joe Gibbs that’s been here longer than some of these guys have been pooping yellow … and they signed off and said this is good … we’re okay.” 

McReynolds accepts that NASCAR is not perfect, but asserts that Jordan’s words have a lesser say in the sport than the veterans. So he ridiculed the NASCAR lawsuit: “There’s things we don’t like about it but we’re going to do what’s best for the sport and best for our business. And they signed off on it and these people that have been A. either not competitive or only been here for four and a half years have been saying the way we’ve done business for 76 and a half years is wrong.”

However, the fact remains that one of the team owners mentioned by McReynolds admitted to NASCAR’s exploits. Bigger commitments prevented them from taking Jordan’s side.

The story is not so simple

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After 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports emerged as the standouts, other teams tried to explain. Rick Hendrick, who was one of the signees of the charter deal, said that he was ‘tired’. When two years of negotiation came to naught, even the winningest race team owner chose to fold. Unlike McReynolds’ claim of veterans giving the green light, Hendrick admitted: “Not everybody was happy. But in any negotiation, you’re not going to get everything you want.” And contrary to Hendrick’s cryptic words, some anonymous team owners even said they felt like NASCAR “put a gun to their heads.” One owner even saluted Jordan and Co. for displaying immense bravado in the NASCAR lawsuit.

23XI Racing and FRM also understood why most teams chose not to pick up arms. Unlike McReynolds claiming that experience played a factor, FRM owner Bob Jenkins says there was a huge risk. “If you poll the owners in the sport, I can tell you overwhelmingly, they’re going to tell you that they did this under duress because there’s long-term sponsorship agreements, long-term driver agreements, (manufacturer) agreements, commitments to crew chiefs and engineers. It takes a lot of courage, or stupidity, to say no at that point. You have six hours to sign a deal. In my case, I don’t know what it was gonna cost me if I lose two charters in my race team, but it’s a lot of money.”

Now that 23XI and FRM have decided to risk it all, now it is all or nothing. We can only wait and see where the NASCAR lawsuit takes the sport.