Internal texts from NASCAR leadership Steve Phelps and Steve O’Donnell have shown up in some new court documents, giving a pretty blunt look at how the sport’s top people reacted in 2023 when Denny Hamlin decided to sign up for the Superstar Racing Experience (SRX).
These texts came about during SRX’s third season, when the series was starting to gain real traction. They had managed to attract active NASCAR drivers and get aired in primetime on ESPN.
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The texts got released as part of the ongoing antitrust suit involving 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports. Both teams are saying that NASCAR is using its control over the schedule, sponsorship rules, and the charter system to stifle competition. Not just from other NASCAR teams, but from outside series like SRX too.
According to the filings, Steve O’Donnell was pretty fired up about Hamlin’s SRX stunt, and shot back with: “This is NASCAR. Pure and simple. Enough. We need legal to take a shot at this.” Stev ePhelps went even further, texting: “These guys are just plain stupid. Need to put a knife in this trash series.”
These texts were swapped out shortly after Hamlin confirmed he was going to run a Thursday-night SRX event. The whole thing just shows that NASCAR leadership felt like SRX had suddenly become big and was poaching fans, drivers, and media attention right from under their noses. They also show their weird reaction about active Cup drivers giving SRX a go, a series they didn’t control.
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The texts were included in the batch of redacted exhibits filed ahead of the summary-judgment hearings on November 22. The trial is set for December 1 and these messages became the center of the conversation. They show NASCAR didn’t view SRX as a harmless offseason project but as a competitor they wanted to “take a shot at” according to O’Donnell.
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What the Messages Mean for NASCAR in the Context of the Trial
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The SRX messages also fit with other private texts in the filings that were leaked. Executives were privately worried about a PGA/LIV style split in racing. Their messages showed they wanted keep drivers tied closely to NASCAR. At the same time leaked texts from Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin criticized the charter negotiations and lack of transparency which shows how bad the relationship had gotten before the lawsuit was filed.
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For the plaintiffs this is a big deal. If NASCAR was willing to use their legal department to push back against an outside series it strengthens the argument that NASCAR tries to control every part of the motorsports landscape.
The lawsuit claims NASCAR uses the charter system, scheduling power and sanctioning authority to control the market. These messages give the plaintiffs a real world example of leadership reacting defensively towards a competitor. Which is exactly what they’re trying to prove in their case.
The trial will determine if NASCAR’s behavior crosses the line from governance to monopoly. The SRX messages make that harder for NASCAR to brush off. They show when another series gained traction the response from the top wasn’t indifference it was anger and a desire to “take a shot” at it. That’s exactly what the plaintiffs have been saying has happened for years.
Publicly Steve Phelps has said NASCAR was ‘trying hard‘ to settle the case and move on but these newly revealed messages contradict that. They show irritation, frustration and a defensive posture towards any competitor. Whether the court sees this as internal venting or anti-competitive behavior will be one of the big questions at trial.
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