NASCAR president Steve Phelps joined the Varsity pod to discuss his sport’s approach to those new deals, and share his outlook on the business. Phelps also talked about NASCAR’s expansion plans and offered his first public comments on the antitrust lawsuit that Michael Jordan filed alleging anticompetitive behavior.
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John Ourand: I have to ask about Michael Jordan’s lawsuit. It’s uncommon for a team owner in any sport to sue a league, and I’m surprised this hasn’t been settled by now. What’s your goal? A court victory? A settlement?
Obviously, we want a court victory. I can’t get into the lawsuit, and I can’t speak to why Michael and Denny Hamlin decided to take this action. We negotiated in good faith for over two years. We had the majority of the teams—13 of 15, representing 32 charters—extend with us.
I love that Michael Jordan is in our sport. I personally like Michael and think he’s good for the sport. Do I like that he’s taking this course of action? I don’t. Would I like to put it behind us? Yes, I would. I’m hopeful it can be somewhat speedy. But for us, it’s going to be business as usual. We’ve got races to run. We’re looking to grow. We’ve got new media partners. There’s lots of momentum. I just want to make sure that this is not a distraction.
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