During a meeting with team presidents last week, NASCAR President Steve O’Donnell addressed text messages recently released in the sport’s antitrust trial, people familiar with the matter told SBJ, underscoring the trickle-down effect the lawsuit is having on industry relations this season.
Two NASCAR teams, 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports, have ensnared NASCAR in a bitter and high-stakes lawsuit that is scheduled to go to trial Dec. 1. One of the messages obtained during discovery that has gained attention involves a conversation among several NASCAR Holdings executives in which O’Donnell was quoted as saying the charter renewal offer at the time could be interpreted as a “f***-the-teams” proposition.
After the message appeared in a court filing, some initially interpreted O’Donnell was saying NASCAR should offer a bad deal, but people close to the sanctioning body have insisted he was saying the opposite.
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Meanwhile, other topics were addressed during the meeting, and some of the attendees came away with the feeling that NASCAR is likely to change its playoff format next year, two people said. But two separate people familiar with NASCAR’s thinking cautioned against that interpretation and said the matter was still being deliberated.
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Some within NASCAR have come around to the idea that a one-off race to determine the season-long championship might not be the proper formula and are open to change, one of the people said. The series has been under pressure from parts of its core fanbase to re-evaluate whether its current format to determine its champion is fair.