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Tag: Joe Gibbs

  • NASCAR settles federal antitrust case, gives all teams the permanent charters they wanted

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    CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Michael Jordan and NASCAR chairman Jim France stood side-by-side on the steps of a federal courthouse as if they were old friends following a stunning settlement Thursday of a bruising antitrust case in which the Basketball Hall of Famer was the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit accusing the top racing series in the United States of being a monopolistic bully.

    The duo was flanked by three-time Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin and Curtis Polk, the co-owners of 23XI Racing with Jordan, Front Row Motorsports owner Bob Jenkins and over a dozen lawyers as they celebrated the end to an eight-day trial that ultimately led NASCAR to cave and grant all its teams the permanent charters they wanted.

    “Like two competitors, obviously we tried to get as much done in each other’s favor,” Jordan said, towering over the 81-year-old France. “I’ve said this from Day 1: The only way this sport is going to grow is we have to find some synergy between the two entities. I think we’ve gotten to that point, unfortunately it took 16 months to get here, but I think level heads have gotten us to this point where we can actually work together and grow this sport. I am very proud about that and I think Jim feels the same.”

    France concurred.

    “I do feel the same and we can get back to focusing on what we really love, and that’s racing, and we spent a lot of time not really focused on that so much as we needed to be,” France said. “I feel like we made a very good decision here together and we have a big opportunity to continue growing the sport.”

    A charter is the equivalent of the franchise model used in other sports and in NASCAR it guarantees 36 teams a spot in every top-level Cup Series race and a fixed portion of the revenue stream. The system was implemented in 2016 and teams have argued for over two years that the charters needed to be made permanent — they had been revokable by NASCAR — and the revenue sharing had to change.

    NASCAR, founded and privately owned by the Florida-based France family, never considered making the charters permanent. Instead, after two-plus years of bitter negotiations, NASCAR in September 2024 presented a “take-it-or leave-it” final offer that gave teams until end of that day to sign the 112-page document.

    23XI and Front Row refused and sued, while 13 other organizations signed but testimony in court revealed many did so “with a gun to our head” because the threat of losing the charters would have put them out of business.

    Jordan testified early in the trial that as a new team owner to NASCAR — 23XI launched in 2021 — he felt he had the strength to challenge NASCAR. Eight days of testimony went badly for NASCAR, which when it began to present its case seemed focused more on mitigating damages than it did on proving it did not violate antitrust laws.

    Although terms of the settlement were not released — NASCAR was in the process of scheduling a Thursday afternoon call with all teams to discuss the revenue-sharing model moving forward — both Jordan and NASCAR said that charters will now be permanent for all teams. 23XI and Front Row will receive their combined six charters back for 2026.

    An economist previously testified that NASCAR owes 23XI and Front Row $364.7 million in damages, and that NASCAR shorted 36 chartered teams $1.06 billion from 2021-24.

    “Today’s a good day,” Jordan said from the front-row seat he’s occupied since the trial began Dec. 1 as he waited for the settlement announcement.

    U.S. District Judge Kenneth Bell, who had presided over two days of failed settlement talks before the trial began, echoed the sentiment. Bell told the jury that sometimes parties at trial have to see how the evidence unfolds to come to the wisdom of a settlement.

    “I wish we could’ve done this a few months ago,” Bell said in court. “I believe this is great for NASCAR. Great for the future of NASCAR. Great for the entity of NASCAR. Great for the teams and ultimately great for the fans.”

    The settlement came after two days of testimony by France and the Wednesday night public release of a letter from Bass Pro Shops founder Johnny Morris calling for NASCAR Commissioner Steve Phelps to be removed.

    The discovery process revealed internal NASCAR communications in which Phelps called Hall of Fame team owner Richard Childress a “redneck” and other derogatory names; Bass Pro sponsors Childress’ teams, as well as some others, and Morris is an ardent NASCAR supporter.

    Childress gave fiery testimony earlier this week over his reluctance to sign the charter agreement because it was unfair to the teams, which have been bleeding money and begged NASCAR for concessions. Letters from Hall of Fame team owners Joe Gibbs, Rick Hendrick, Jack Roush and Roger Penske were introduced in which they pleaded with France for charters to become permanent; France testified he was not moved by the men he considers good friends.

    Hendrick and Penske, who were both scheduled to testify Friday, expressed gratitude that a settlement had been reached. Penske called it “tremendous news” and said it cleared the way to continue growing the series.

    “Millions of loyal NASCAR fans and thousands of hardworking people rely on our industry, and today’s resolution allows all of us to focus on what truly matters — the future of our sport,” Hendrick said. “This moment presents an important opportunity to strengthen our relationships and recommit ourselves to building a collaborative and prosperous future for all stakeholders. I’m incredibly optimistic about what’s ahead.”

    The settlement came abruptly on the ninth day of the trial. Bell opened expecting to hear motions but both sides asked for a private conference in chambers. When they emerged, Bell ordered an hourlong break for the two sides to confer. That turned into two hours, all parties returned to the courtroom and Kessler announced an agreement had been reached.

    “What all parties have always agreed on is a deep love for the sport and a desire to see it fulfill its full potential,” NASCAR and the plaintiffs said in a joint statement. “This is a landmark moment, one that ensures NASCAR’s foundation is stronger, its future is brighter and its possibilities are greater.”

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    AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

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  • NASCAR chairman refuses to budge on team charters in testimony during Michael Jordan’s lawsuit

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    CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — NASCAR Chairman Jim France testified Tuesday in Michael Jordan’s federal antitrust lawsuit against his family that he still has not changed his mind on granting teams permanent charters, and evidence showed he entered negotiations on a new revenue-sharing agreement determined to thwart teams’ efforts for a better deal from the stock car series.

    France was the final witness called by attorneys for Jordan’s 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports on the seventh day of the trial. Those race teams have accused NASCAR of being a monopolistic bully that engages in anticompetitive business practices.

    Also called Tuesday was Hall of Fame team owner Richard Childress, who testified that he only signed the 2025 revenue-sharing agreement because refusing to do so would have put Richard Childress Racing out of business.

    NASCAR Commissioner Steve Phelps testified to the frustrating two-plus years of negotiations between the top motorsports series in the United States and its race teams. The plaintiffs introduced several documents detailing communication between NASCAR executives that showed France was stubbornly opposed to granting teams permanent charters throughout the process.

    The charter system is equivalent to the franchise model used in other sports. In NASCAR, a charter guarantees cars a spot in the 40-car field each week, as well as specified financial terms.

    Asked by plaintiffs’ attorney Jeffrey Kessler if he has changed his stance on making charters permanent, France said, “No, I have not.”

    Kessler later introduced a summary of notes from the first meeting of NASCAR executives on how they would approach negotiations with the teams over the new agreements. Steve O’Donnell, now the president of NASCAR, wrote in those notes, “Jim’s overarching comments — we are in a competition. We are going to win.”

    France’s position never changed, even though — as evidence showed — he received pleas from Hall of Fame team owners Joe Gibbs, Rick Hendrick, Jack Roush and Roger Penske. All four are close personal friends, France said on the stand Tuesday.

    France became chairman of the series his father founded in 1948 following the 2019 resignation of his nephew, Brian. NASCAR has always been privately owned by the Florida-based family, and Brian France negotiated the initial charter system that began in 2016 as a response to teams complaining they were bleeding money at an unsustainable rate.

    Jim France, who is 81, was soft-spoken on the stand and needed many questions repeated, and he said on numerous topics that he was either unable to recall, did not remember or was not sure — even in response to evidence introduced that the France Family Trust received $400 million in distributions from 2021 through 2024 and that NASCAR is valued at $5 billion.

    He wasn’t sure of the title his niece, Lesa France Kennedy, holds with NASCAR, or the ownership percentages between the two. Evidence showed Jim France owns 54% of NASCAR, while France Kennedy, the vice chair, owns 36%. France also testified he believes he is paid in “the $3.5 million range” as chairman.

    Richard Childress details his dissatisfaction

    Childress spoke to the pressure he felt to sign the charter agreement.

    “I would not have signed those charters if I was financially able to do what I do,” the six-time championship winning owner testified. “We are a blue-collar operation.”

    Childress has participated in NASCAR for 60 years and has a longtime personal relationship with the Frances. He testified that he pleaded with Jim France for the charters to be made permanent instead of renewable, and France refused.

    Childress testified he supports the charter system because before its implementation race teams “were worth 10 cents on the dollar at most. We didn’t have nothing.”

    He admitted that the charters added value to his team, but said the equity falls short of its financial potential if the charters were permanent. An economist testified that NASCAR owes 23XI and Front Row $364.7 million in damages, and that NASCAR shorted 36 chartered teams $1.06 billion from 2021-24.

    When Childress’ October declaration of his support for charters was introduced, Childress insisted NASCAR attorney Christopher Yates also show the jury language added to the statement in which Childress pushes for the charters to be permanent.

    Childress said he added those sentences to the declaration, which had been pre-written for him to sign.

    Phelps details negotiations with teams

    NASCAR commissioner Phelps noted that Jordan’s financial advisor would not compromise on key issues in the negotiations.

    Phelps, who was president of NASCAR during the negotiations, said Jordan right-hand man Curtis Polk was the lead representative for the teams and held firm in their demand for increased revenue, permanent charters, a voice in governance and one-third of any new revenue streams.

    The deal finally presented to the teams in September 2024 did not include permanent charters or a voice in governance, but NASCAR gave the teams a firm deadline to accept its final offer or forfeit their charters. 23XI Racing, owned by Jordan, Polk and three-time Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin, and Front Row Motorsports, owned by Bob Jenkins, were the only two teams out of 15 organizations that refused to sign. They sued instead.

    Phelps, promoted to become NASCAR’s first commissioner earlier this year, testified that he worked hard to get the teams the best deal possible. But he said the teams’ initial request for $720 million in guaranteed revenue would have put NASCAR out of business.

    At the same time, Polk would not budge, either.

    “It was one of the most challenging and longest negotiations I’ve ever been part of,” said Phelps, who admitted he didn’t particularly enjoy negotiating with Polk, who was at the time the representative for the “Team Negotiating Council.”

    “The TNC never wavered off their four pillars. It was just the same thing, the same thing, and that was very frustrating,” Phelps said.

    Phelps testified at one point that NASCAR believed it had landed on a new charter agreement that satisfied the teams but it was contingent on NASCAR finalizing its new media rights deal.

    “I thought we’d just plug in the numbers,” said Phelps, who testified NASCAR was hoping to land a media deal worth $1.2 billion. When it became clear the media rights deal wouldn’t net that much money, Phelps said the teams asked to set a floor in negotiations.

    NASCAR ultimately got a media deal worth $1.05 billion — still an increase of $33 million a year from the previous deal — and Phelps said “every dollar” went to the race teams when it began this year.

    However, the ultimate revenue payout to teams is $431 million annually, the charters are not permanent and the teams did not get a voice in rules and regulations.

    Even so, Phelps testified he believed the charter agreement was “a fair deal.”

    Faster pace

    U.S. District Judge Kenneth Bell has repeatedly admonished both sides to pick up the pace of the trial, and once France’s testimony concludes Wednesday, NASCAR will begin to present its defense.

    NASCAR has said it has a witness list of 16 people, but Yates informed Bell he can trim “four or five” names from it and is hopeful to wrap his defense by Friday.

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    AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

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  • Column: Bittersweet win for Logano as Gibbs family mourns

    Column: Bittersweet win for Logano as Gibbs family mourns

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    AVONDALE, Ariz. — Joey Logano began his career at Joe Gibbs Racing, which signed him to a driver development deal when he was 15, and then put “Sliced Bread” in a NASCAR national series race seven days after his 18th birthday.

    There was a plan to develop Logano, but it was scrapped when JGR fast-tracked him to Cup after just 19 Xfinity Series starts because Hall of Famer Tony Stewart left ahead of the 2009 season.

    Logano wasn’t ready for the big leagues, and JGR let him go after four rocky Cup seasons.

    He landed at Team Penske and on Sunday won his second Cup championship with his victory at Phoenix Raceway in the NASCAR season finale. He joins Kyle Busch, his former teammate at Gibbs, as the only active NASCAR drivers with multiple Cup titles.

    Logano earned both of his titles with Penske, and all of his success was achieved long after his Gibbs dismissal. That didn’t make Sunday any less conflicting for Logano, who learned shortly before the start of the race that Coy Gibbs, vice chairman at JGR, had died in his sleep hours after watching his 20-year-old son, Ty Gibbs, win the Xfinity Series championship.

    “It’s such an interesting spot as you sit there preparing to run a championship race and then you hear. I don’t have words to explain how that is,” Logano said. “I feel for Ty more than anything. When you take all the championship racing stuff out, it doesn’t matter at the end of the day. It’s great that we’re up here and we won a championship, but something happens to your family, it doesn’t matter.”

    Logano said Gibbs’ passing made for a somber season finale for the entire industry, and he grappled with the grief his former team owner must be experiencing. Joe Gibbs, both an NFL and NASCAR Hall of Famer, has now lost both of his children; J.D. Gibbs died in 2019 from degenerative neurological disease, and both brothers died roughly a month before their 50th birthdays.

    “It’s a bittersweet type of thing because here we are winning a championship, and one of the people that’s a leader in our sport and someone I’ve known for a while is gone,” Logano said. “Our prayers and thoughts go to the Gibbs family and everyone over at JGR. They’ve had a rough run at it, I couldn’t imagine how Joe feels right now. But for Ty to lose his dad, that’s just hard.”

    Logano’s emotions were about more than just his past relationship with the Gibbs family and their race team. He had spent much of the week leading into the championship races defending Ty Gibbs, who was maligned for wrecking JGR teammate Brandon Jones from the lead on the final lap of a race Jones had to win to race for the Xfinity title.

    The incident caused a deep divide at JGR and Toyota, and both Joe Gibbs and Coy Gibbs seemed weary leading into Saturday’s finale of discussing how to handle their budding star who happens to be family. Joe Gibbs promised consequences for his grandson, who is expected to be named the replacement Cup driver for Busch now that Busch’s 15-year run at JGR has ended.

    Even after Ty Gibbs made it through the week with a humbling apology tour and then delivered in the finale by holding off rival Noah Gragson for the championship, his father was still navigating the storm his son had created a week earlier.

    “When you start this day, I’m kind of like, ‘I just want to get this day over with.’ That was my mindset, because I want to move on and get past it,” Coy Gibbs said after his son won the title Saturday night.

    “I’m definitely proud of him. I’ve always got his back as his father. Obviously it’s heartbreaking to go through tough stuff and watch, it’s actually more heartbreaking to watch him go through it. I don’t give a rip; I’m old and don’t care. But to see a kid hurting — and he knows he screwed up; and to go through all that, it’s tough. It’s tough as a parent for sure.”

    Hours later, Coy Gibbs passed away in his sleep.

    Logano could relate to Ty Gibbs’ uncomfortable position leading into the race because Logano himself made his share of silly mistakes as he struggled with the spotlight in his early NASCAR years.

    “We’ve all done stupid things when we were kids. Every one of us, right?” Logano said earlier in the week. “I can’t say I agree with much that he did or said, but I also have some sympathy in saying, ‘Man, I’ve been there, I get it.’ It’s the life that I chose. It’s the life that Ty is choosing.”

    But it also hit Logano because unlike 2018 when he won his first championship and had only an infant son, he’s now a father of three and at 32 years old was the veteran of the championship four. Logano brought 4-year-old son, Hudson, to Phoenix and has spent the last several weeks reading car magazines to his son as bedtime stories and promising a big fun party when Daddy won the Cup title.

    Logano got to take Hudson up the track to collect the checkered flag and the little boy was skipping as he clung to his father’s hand. Then Hudson got a ride in the No. 22 Ford to the championship stage.

    As Logano celebrated with his son, he was cognizant that the Gibbs family was not at the track and mourning the loss of a son, husband and father.

    “That just goes to prove that you’ve got to cherish every moment in life. You don’t know when the next one happens. You don’t know when your number is called,” Logano said. “Hudson and I, like he’s my oldest and we have a connection.

    “He’s just a little me. I see so much of me in him. I always dreamed of winning with him here because I always wanted to take him for a ride. To see him smiling and celebrate the moment together, it’s truly the most awesome feeling.”

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    AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing and https://twitter.com/AP—Sports

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  • JGR co-owner Coy Gibbs, 49, dies hours after son wins title

    JGR co-owner Coy Gibbs, 49, dies hours after son wins title

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    AVONDALE, Ariz. — Coy Gibbs, the vice chairman of Joe Gibbs Racing for his NFL and NASCAR Hall of Fame father, died Sunday morning just hours after his son won the Xfinity Series championship. He was 49.

    “It is with great sorrow that Joe Gibbs Racing confirms that Coy Gibbs (co-owner) went to be with the Lord in his sleep last night. The family appreciates all the thoughts and prayers and asks for privacy at this time,” the team said in a statement released shortly before the start of the NASCAR season finale.

    Joe Gibbs has lost both of his sons. J.D. Gibbs died in 2019 of degenerative neurological disease, and was also 49 at the time of his death. Coy Gibbs succeeded his older brother as vice chairman of the family-run NASCAR organization.

    “We are heartbroken by the tragic loss of Coy Gibbs. On behalf of the France Family and all of NASCAR, I extend my deepest condolences to Joe, Pat, Heather, the Gibbs family and everyone at Joe Gibbs Racing on the loss of Coy, a true friend and racer,” said NASCAR Chairman and CEO Jim France.

    NASCAR held a moment of silence for Coy Gibbs before the start of the Cup championship Sunday at Phoenix Raceway, where JGR’s Christopher Bell was racing for the title. Kyle Busch, in his final race after 15 years with the team, was crying on pit road before the start of the race.

    “Today we will do what we don’t want to do, but we will unite as a family and race for the name on our chest,” JGR driver Denny Hamlin tweeted.

    Ty Gibbs had been scheduled to drive the No. 23 for 23XI Racing but was replaced by Daniel Hemric for what 23XI called “a family emergency.” Jackson Gibbs, son of the late J.D. Gibbs, was on Bell’s pit crew Sunday and worked the race.

    Coy Gibbs had just closed a tumultuous week with his 20-year-old son, who won the Xfinity title on Saturday and is soon expected to be named Kyle Busch’s replacement at JGR.

    But Ty Gibbs has been criticized this year for aggressive driving and last week wrecked teammate Brandon Jones out of the lead at Martinsville Speedway on the final lap. Jones needed to win the race to make the Xfinity championship and JGR and Toyota would have had two cars in the finale had Gibbs just stayed in second.

    “Racing is a family and the relationships within the entire garage go so much deeper than on-track competition. Today, we lost a dear part of our family. The loss of Coy Gibbs is devastating to everyone at Toyota and TRD,” said David Wilson, president of Toyota Racing Development.

    On Saturday, shortly before Ty Gibbs won his title, Hamlin said it had been a difficult week at JGR. He had tweeted after Ty Gibbs crashed Jones “I miss J.D.” and explained he was referring to the atmosphere at JGR established by J.D. Gibbs, which he called a “tight family unit.”

    “We really have to treat (teammates) like they’re our brother and our family, and I think at times at JGR, we probably work with each other the least amount of any other team, and that’s just the facts,” he said. “I’m not saying it’s anyone’s fault currently, but J.D. was just different because he really wrapped his arms around everyone. I told Coy, ‘J.D. was my dad.’ He was really my dad as soon as I came into the series, so when you lose that, it changes the culture a little bit, and we just have to get it back.”

    Joe Gibbs and Coy Gibbs spent the days after Martinsville defending their young driver, who was resoundingly booed at both Martinsville and Phoenix after his back-to-back victories. Ty Gibbs made his own humbling apology tour before holding off Noah Gragson for the championship.

    “Prayers to the Gibbs family,” tweeted Gragson, who had open animosity toward Ty Gibbs most of the Xfinity season before congratulating him following Saturday’s title.

    Coy Gibbs played linebacker at Stanford from 1991-94 and served as an offensive quality control assistant during his father’s second stint as the Washington NFL coach. Gibbs had a short racing career, including two years in the then-NASCAR Busch Series and three in NASCAR’s Trucks Series before helping his father launch Joe Gibbs Racing Motocross in 2007.

    Coy Gibbs was born in Fayetteville, Arkansas, and lived in Cornelius, North Carolina, with his wife Heather and four children.

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    AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing and https://twitter.com/AP—Sports

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  • No favorite among NASCAR championship 4 ahead of finale

    No favorite among NASCAR championship 4 ahead of finale

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    AVONDALE, Ariz. — The long and unpredictable NASCAR season comes to an end Sunday with a championship race fitting for a year that saw unprecedented parity and never a clear title favorite.

    Sure, Chase Elliott led the standings for most of the season while winning a career-high five races and the regular-season title. But everything is equal this year, the first for NASCAR’s new Next Gen car that successfully leveled the playing field.

    The Cup Series celebrated 19 different winners — 21 if the non-points races are counted — and five drivers were first-time victors. Momentum was fleeting and shifted throughout the garage weekly and the end result is a unique final four in the winner-take-all finale at Phoenix Raceway.

    Christopher Bell and Ross Chastain will race for the championship for the first time in their careers, while Elliott and Joey Logano are seeking their second titles. Logano won in 2018 and Elliott won in 2020 in the first of back-to-back Hendrick Motorsports championships.

    Kyle Larson won last year but was eliminated in the second round, leaving Elliott as Hendrick’s only shot to make it three Cup titles in a row. And experience may matter: Logano won the pole in Saturday qualifying, while Elliott was fourth.

    “We’ve been the favorite to win since the beginning of the year, if you ask me,” said Logano of Team Penske. His Ford won the first Next Gen race, the exhibition at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in January.

    “That’s the way I go to a racetrack and if I don’t go to a racetrack like that, then I shouldn’t show up,” Logano continued. “So I’ve always said what everyone thinks about favorites and odds and all that garbage. I don’t care. I know what my odds should be, and I know what I feel like they are. We’ve proven (in qualifying) we’ve got a good horse and we’re ready to rock and roll.”

    The odds according to FanDuel Sportsbook, by the way, favor Elliott to win the title. Logano is trying to give Roger Penske a Cup title in the same season the organization won the IndyCar championship with Will Power.

    Chastain qualified 25th, worst of the title contenders, and Bell has struggled since Joe Gibbs Racing unloaded his Toyota and will start 17th. But Bell has been down before in these playoffs and won twice to avoid elimination and make it to his first title race.

    “I feel like I’ve got the best team out of the four. I definitely like our chances,” Bell insisted.

    If it takes a victory to win, Bell proved he can do it twice, including last week’s dramatic win at Martinsville to save his season. And since the winner-take-all format was established in 2014, the champion has won the final race to claim the Cup.

    The Next Gen has shown how many drivers can win each week, and even though Elliott tapered off a bit in the playoffs, he too likes his chances.

    “When I sit back and I look at this weekend and the way this format is and the way the final four works (with one race), if you’re in, you have a shot,” Elliott said.

    So that includes Chastain, who shot to fame last Sunday with a wall-riding final half lap that gained him five positions and leapfrog nemesis Denny Hamlin by two points for the final spot in the championship race. The video-game style move has been celebrated globally in motorsports but not so much in the NASCAR garage.

    His fellow drivers believe what Chastain did in deliberately crashing into the wall, taking his hands off the wheel and flooring it while letting the wall guide his Chevrolet, is a dangerous move. While entertaining, they’ve argued it could have gone terribly wrong and injured someone, including spectators.

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    AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing and https://twitter.com/AP—Sports

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