Still not over that one yet.
The lawsuit filed by 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports against NASCAR reached a settlement last month after 8 days of trial, bringing to an end a bitter yearlong battle between the sport and two team owners. But the effects of that lawsuit aren’t going away any time soon.
In the settlement agreement, NASCAR agreed to make charters permanent, rather than the previous deal that would have allowed the sanctioning body to end the charters after the current agreement expired after 7 years. Teams also got a bigger say in decisions made by NASCAR, something they had long been demanding with both teams and fans feeling like leadership was increasingly out of touch with what teams and fans wanted.
But beyond the terms of the settlement agreement, the lawsuit also resulted in the departure of NASCAR Commissioner Steve Phelps, who announced this month that he would be stepping down after 20 years in the sport.
A key figure in the lawsuit, things got particularly nasty when messages were released showing Phelps, who at the time was President of NASCAR, fuming over team owner Richard Childress in August of 2023, while NASCAR was in the midst of negotiating a new TV deal and charter agreement with team owners.
Childress had given an interview on SiriusXM about the charter negotiations, and wasn’t happy with the way things were going. After listening to the interview, Phelps said Childress, who owns the #3 car for Austin Dillon and the #8 car of Kyle Busch in the NASCAR Cup Series, “needs to be taken out back and flogged” while calling him a “stupid redneck who owes his entire fortune” to NASCAR.
In another string of messages, Phelps and NASCAR VP Brian Herbst call Childress an “idiot” for comments he made to the media, apparently regarding the proposed charter extension agreement. According to Phelps:
“He’s not smart – is a dinosaur – and a malcontent. He’s worth a couple hundred million dollars – every dollar associated with NASCAR in some way. Total a–clown.”
Obviously it was a terrible look for the sport, especially for executives who haven’t exactly endeared themselves to race fans recently with some of the changes they’ve made to the racing.
In a statement after the text messages became public, Childress even revealed that he was exploring legal action, presumably against NASCAR or Phelps:
“RCR and Richard Childress are deeply disappointed by the insensitive and defamatory statements made about Mr. Childress in recently surfaced text messages between NASCAR executives Steve Phelps and Brian Herbst. These comments reflect the way certain NASCAR executives have historically viewed and treated many team owners like Mr. Childress, who have devoted their lives to strengthening the sport for its fans, its sponsors, and all who compete in it. RCR and Richard Childress are equally disappointed for the NASCAR fans, with whom Mr. Childress closely identifies given his humble and hard-working background.
Mr. Childress and the organization will issue no further statements regarding these or other defamatory text messages that have recently surfaced, as legal action is being contemplated and discussed with legal counsel.”
Now, it’s unclear what legal action Childress was exploring. Simply being called a “stupid redneck” probably isn’t enough to win a lawsuit. But Childress could allege that NASCAR retaliated against him for his comments during the interview in question, or that they discriminated against him as compared to other teams – and cite the texts as evidence.
Regardless, Childress hasn’t publicly commented on the text messages since that initial statement, and thus far hasn’t taken any legal action.
But that doesn’t mean he’s forgotten about them.
In his first interview about the text messages, Childress said he had spoken to the France family, who owns NASCAR, about moving forward:
“I’ve spoke to the France family, and my goal now is to try to help them and help everyone come together and build a stronger NASCAR sport.”
But part of moving forward is accountability – and that’s something that sounds like it’s still in the back of his mind:
“As far as the personal damages that came to me, if I tell you what I think now, you’d probably be bleeping me out. So that is still to be carried on in the future, the personal attacks against me.
And I still… I’m like an old elephant, you don’t forget.”
I guess we’ll just have to wait and see whether Childress actually does take legal action against NASCAR, or whether he’ll use those text messages in the future if he feels NASCAR is unfairly targeting his team.
But one thing’s clear: He’s not ready to simply forget about them and move on.
