Elite Attorney Warns Judge of NASCAR’s Potential Bankruptcy Fearing Roger Penske’s Series’ Fate

Back in the 1980s and early 1990s, IndyCar was neck-and-neck with NASCAR for America’s motorsports throne. The Indy 500 wasn’t just a race; it was the race, pulling TV ratings and sponsorship dollars that rivaled the Daytona 500. Open-wheel racing looked like it could hold its own against stock cars forever. But then came the split.

In 1996, Tony George, head of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, broke away from CART to form the Indy Racing League (IRL). What followed was chaos. Fans picked sides, sponsors bailed, and ratings tanked. While NASCAR rode high with stars like Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr., open-wheel racing imploded. CART went bankrupt, and though IRL survived as today’s IndyCar, it’s never sniffed its old glory. That split left scars that still haunt the series. Now, NASCAR’s staring down a similar nightmare.

In a Charlotte courtroom this week, an attorney for the sanctioning body dropped a bombshell, warning that an ongoing antitrust lawsuit could fracture the sport just like IndyCar’s collapse. With Michael Jordan’s 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports suing NASCAR over its charter system, the stakes are sky-high. Could stock car racing’s golden era be on the verge of its own catastrophic split?

There might be no winners in this fight

Thursday’s hearing in Charlotte was supposed to be a routine step in the 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports lawsuit against NASCAR. Instead, it became a powder keg, with Judge Kenneth D. Bell warning that the sport could change forever if the two sides don’t settle before the December 1 trial. “Everybody is going to get hurt if this thing goes a certain way. If either party feels certain they’re going to win, they’re wrong.” Bell said bluntly.

The heart of the battle is NASCAR’s charter system, which guarantees teams a spot in all 36 Cup races and a cut of TV revenue. 23XI and Front Row refused to sign the new charter extension, calling it a monopolistic scheme that keeps teams weak while fattening the France family’s wallet. Their lawsuit accuses NASCAR of stifling competition and bullying teams into unfair deals. The courtroom evidence was spicy. Internal texts and emails revealed raw frustration, with Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin letting loose on NASCAR and other teams.

NASCAR’s attorney, Chris Yates, didn’t hold back either, warning the judge that siding with the teams could spark a split like CART vs. IRL in the ’90s. If 23XI, Front Row, or others break away to form a rival league, it could shatter NASCAR, splitting fans and scaring off sponsors. Yates’ point was clear: IndyCar’s collapse, where CART went bankrupt and IRL limped on, shows what happens when a sport fractures. A similar split could gut NASCAR, leaving it a shadow of itself, just as IndyCar struggles to match its pre-1996 heights.

Michael Jordan, speaking outside the courthouse, framed the fight as bigger than his team, “When we first started this whole process, I’ve always said that I want to fight for the betterment of the sport. Even though they try to point out that we made some money, we had a successful business, that’s not the point. The point is that the sport itself needs to continually change for the better, for the fans, as well as for the teams, as well as NASCAR, too, if they understand that. I look forward to going down firing. If I have to fight this to the end for the betterment of the sport, I will do that.”

Jordan’s words echo the passion of IndyCar’s rebels, but they also carry the weight of history. Splits don’t just reshape sports; they can break them. For fans who lived through IndyCar’s civil war, this feels like déjà vu. NASCAR thrived in the 2000s while open-wheel racing burned, but now the tables could turn.

Judge Bell’s warning that a team victory could make “NASCAR look very different” isn’t just legalese; it’s a red flag that a split could fracture fans, sponsors, and the sport’s core. And Yates’ bankruptcy warning isn’t hyperbole; it’s a reminder that CART’s collapse left Roger Penske’s IndyCar a niche series, far from its former glory. With the trial looming, NASCAR’s future hangs in the balance: reform or ruin.

 Jordan, Hamlin, and NASCAR text messages revealed in court

The August 28 hearing turned up the heat with jaw-dropping texts revealed in discovery. 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports, suing NASCAR since October 2024 over antitrust violations, are fighting to keep their chartered status after a June 5 ruling stripped their six combined charters. The teams want to block NASCAR from selling those valuable spots before the December trial, and the courtroom didn’t disappoint with drama.

Texts from Michael Jordan had him calling other teams “pu–ies” and Joe Gibbs Racing, 23XI’s ally, “f—–s” for signing the 2025 charter deal. Denny Hamlin’s messages were just as raw, admitting his “despise for the France family runs deep.” The bombshell didn’t stop there.

A text from then-NASCAR COO Steve O’Donnell, now president as of March 2025, described a draft of the 2025 charter agreement as “f–k the teams,” harking back to NASCAR’s tight-fisted 1990s control. Bob Pockrass clarified on X that O’Donnell wasn’t backing that draft. He was slamming it, saying the terms needed to be better for teams. Still, the blunt language showed how toxic the negotiations have gotten. After the hearing, Hamlin took to X with a cheeky post, “So this is me not doing that. Hope everyone had a great day!” a nod to his lawyers’ advice to keep quiet.

These texts paint a picture of a sport at war with itself. Jordan’s fighting for a fairer NASCAR, but his and Hamlin’s words show a personal edge, while NASCAR’s leadership isn’t hiding its frustration either. With the trial set to expose more dirty laundry, the echoes of IndyCar’s split grow louder. NASCAR could either evolve or face a collapse that leaves everyone, from Jordan to the France family, picking up the pieces.