Michael Jeffrey Jordan, speaking cordially in a federal courtroom in Charlotte on Friday, acknowledged that it was his competitiveness and novelty in the sport that inspired 23XI Racing to “challenge” Nascar over what he believed was a violation of antitrust rules.
Jordan shared financial and corporate details of his 23XI team and said he has invested $40 million of his own money into the success of the Nascar Cup Series team he formed with business partner Curtis Polk and longtime driver Denny Hamlin.
“Someone had to come forward,” Jordan said Friday in a courtroom in Charlotte, North Carolina. “I was a new person, I wasn't afraid. I felt like I could challenge Nascar as a whole. I felt that as far as the sport was concerned, it needed to be looked at from a different perspective.”
At issue is the expiration of a 2016 agreement under which Nascar made each racing team a “charter team.” The concept is similar to other professional sports consisting of multiple separately owned and operated franchises, such as the NBA's Hornets and the NFL's Panthers in Charlotte. The agreement was set to expire in 2024 when Nascar requested that the charter membership be renewed.
Jordan was on the witness stand for an hour and walked out of the courthouse into pandemonium as media and fans clamored to see or photograph the NBA legend. Jordan's 23XI leads the press with Front Row Motorsports calling on Nascar to change its business model, which Jordan says violates the law requiring two hands on the wheel.
The question for Jordan and Heather Gibbs, who preceded Jordan on the stand Friday, is the details of what Joe Gibbs' sister-in-law said was a frantic and emotional six hours in September 2024 when the racetrack told the teams they had to sign a charter extension. The document consists of 112 pages detailing payments for leased team cars and the guarantee of participation in Nascar-sponsored races.
Jordan said 23XI and Front Row Motorsports instead decided their only option was to unsign the 112-page package and go to court. The remaining 13 organizations signed the agreement.
Jordan and co-owner Denny Hamlin reached out to Nascar about possible changes or extension options to discuss the matter. Nascar didn't say, Jordan said.
But ultimately, much of the resistance to this financially unsustainable model had to do with Jordan's usual profit margins. Victory.
“Denny convinced me that having a third rider would increase our chances of winning,” he said Friday, sharing that he bought a third charter in late 2024 for $28 million despite the uncertainty at the time. “So I dove.”
Heather Gibbs detailed her request for permanent charters, which she said came in the form of a written letter to Nascar. She said the timing of the contract requirement was not right. She said Joe Gibbs initially tried to call Nascar and talk it out of forcing it to sign any agreement, but Heather Gibbs said CEO Jim France rejected that request.
“Don’t do this to us,” Heather Gibbs said of what Joe Gibbs told Nascar executives. She said France responded: “If I wake up and I have 20 charters, I will have 20. If I have 30, I will have 30.”
