rifan muazinCHARLOTTE, NC – The antitrust trial involving 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports against NASCAR entered its second day with testimony from NASCAR’s Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer, Scott Prime. His deposition shed light on internal disagreements within NASCAR’s senior leadership regarding the terms of charter agreements being presented to Cup Series race teams.
Evidence presented during Prime’s testimony, primarily through unsealed internal emails and text messages, suggested a rift between NASCAR’s executive team and its ultimate leadership, particularly CEO Jim France. Documents indicated that Prime, along with former COO Steve O’Donnell and former President Steve Phelps, believed the Cup Series teams were entitled to more favorable terms than those being pushed by France.
In one particularly revealing email, Prime communicated to his colleagues his understanding that Formula 1 teams receive approximately 50 percent of overall revenue, contrasting sharply with the 20 to 25 percent allocated to NASCAR Cup organizations. He acknowledged that team owners "have a point" in their negotiations, a sentiment that appeared to underscore a perceived disparity in revenue distribution within motorsports’ premier series.
The exchange highlighted a complex negotiation dynamic. Prime’s own words from an email, used as an exhibit by lead attorney for the teams, Jeffrey Kessler, stated, "We at NASCAR have all the leverage and the teams will almost have to sign whatever we put in front of them." This statement, presented by Kessler, aimed to portray NASCAR as leveraging its dominant position to dictate terms.
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A significant portion of the afternoon focused on a text message thread from May 21, 2024, involving O’Donnell, Phelps, and Prime. The messages depicted a palpable frustration with the perceived lack of progress in negotiations and a feeling that NASCAR’s leadership was not receptive to team owner feedback.
O’Donnell’s text detailed a conversation with Lesa France Kennedy, expressing that she, along with Gary Crotty (NASCAR legal) and Mike Helton (president emeritus), found a meeting "productive" and aimed to "move the needle." He noted that teams "won’t get everything they want and hopefully we can just meet in the middle." O’Donnell’s message also conveyed his own internal dissent, stating he "didn’t hold back" and questioned how NASCAR’s positions would "grow the sport and position us for a big rights renewal in the future."
Phelps responded with sharp criticism, labeling the situation "Insanity" and referencing a chart by Amanda Oliver (Chief Legal Officer) that showed "zero wins for the teams." He further expressed a grim outlook: "The draft must reflect a middle position of we are dead in the water – they will sign them but we are fucked moving forward." Prime’s reply to this sentiment was: "The approach of ‘here is a bit more money, fuck off everywhere else’ is a bold strategy." O’Donnell concluded the exchange by observing that Lesa Kennedy believed Mike Helton and Gary Crotty felt they were "getting us close" to a desired outcome, which he sarcastically characterized as a "comfortable 1996, fuck the teams, dictatorship, motorsport, redneck, southern, tiny sport."
Kessler pressed Prime on whether these messages indicated a frustration that they could not influence NASCAR’s top leadership. Prime admitted to feeling frustrated by the meeting with team owners and regretted his choice of language.
Prime countered by asserting that the NASCAR board of directors did consider feedback and incorporated some additional team requests. However, 23XI and Front Row’s legal team characterized these concessions as minor, amounting to only "two or three" of thousands of proposed items. When questioned about what was offered, Prime cited "significant protections." The plaintiffs’ counsel, however, argued that NASCAR failed to provide charter permanency, additional revenue streams, or a meaningful role in decision-making, leading Kessler to conclude, "You kept all the power."
A substantial segment of Kessler’s questioning focused on Prime’s awareness of potential breakaway racing series and NASCAR’s strategies to mitigate such threats. As early as 2020, Prime expressed concerns in emails about a breakaway series potentially demonstrating "alternatives" to team owners and drivers, urging NASCAR to "avoid a CART/IRL scenario"—a direct reference to the divisive open-wheel racing split of the 1990s.
The discovery process revealed that Prime and his colleagues had begun discussing more extensive track exclusivity agreements with Speedway Motorsports (SMI) venues. The objective was to prevent these facilities from hosting competing series. An example cited was NASCAR’s prevention of the Superstar Racing Experience (SRX) from racing at SMI tracks, despite SRX’s expressed desire to contribute to venue debt repayment.
When questioned about an email in which he thanked Amanda Oliver for her assistance with track exclusivity details, Prime claimed limited knowledge of the agreement and minimal direct communication with tracks. He described his role as primarily gathering and presenting information in PowerPoint slides for senior leadership. His professing a lack of understanding regarding track exclusivity clauses, despite his role as Vice President of Strategy and Innovation, drew a sharp line of questioning from Kessler regarding his compensation.
Kessler highlighted Prime’s salary, stating, "Then, $200,000-$250,000." Prime confirmed his current salary was "$400,000." Kessler’s pointed remark, "That’s a lot for someone that just puts slides together for someone else," was met with Prime’s defense, "That’s your opinion."
The trial heard that NASCAR eventually implemented two-year exclusivity agreements, extending four years beyond the contract’s term. Prime’s prior email correspondence indicated concerns that single-year track agreements "leaves Speedway Motorsports vulnerable to outside offers," implying potential threats from newly formed series or entities like SRX. Prime’s defense was that these measures were intended to protect NASCAR’s core venues and the teams that compete on them, suggesting exclusivity prevented tracks from being acquired by entities like Amazon or Google for non-racing purposes.
Kessler also interrogated Prime about "Project Gold Codes," a contingency plan reportedly drafted by NASCAR in anticipation of a potential boycott by charter-holding teams or their refusal to sign the 2025 charter agreement by the Daytona 500 deadline. Prime characterized this as a "contingency plan." He further suggested that NASCAR should proactively engage with the Saudi Private Investment Fund to preempt potential partnerships with entities like the Race Team Alliance or SRX.
As the day concluded, it was revealed that Richard Childress, owner of Richard Childress Racing, is slated to testify. This development is particularly notable given Childress’s prior threats of legal action stemming from text messages uncovered during discovery. Those messages suggested a desire from NASCAR President Steve Phelps to see Childress "taken out back and flogged" and referred to him as a "stupid redneck" whose financial success was solely attributed to NASCAR.
Judge Kenneth D. Bell also addressed a request from a non-party team owner seeking to seal their testimony and financial records due to concerns about proprietary information. The Judge indicated his strong opposition to closing court proceedings, citing the risk of a retrial, and instead directed legal representatives to present financial information generally to safeguard sensitive data not fully disclosed in discovery. The individual was described as a supporter of the charter system but a significant financial loser under the current structure. Potential witnesses who might have made such a request include Richard Childress, Heather Gibbs, Rick Hendrick, Cal Wells, and Roger Penske.
The trial is scheduled to resume on Wednesday morning with the cross-examination of Scott Prime by NASCAR’s legal counsel.
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