For months now, NASCAR’s biggest storyline hasn’t been about playoffs, parity, or the Next Gen car. It’s been about pressure, financial, legal, and structural building inside a sport that has always been controlled from the top down. The antitrust lawsuit filed by several charter-holding Cup Series teams has exposed frustrations that have simmered for years: shrinking margins for teams, unbalanced revenue distribution, and a governance model where the teams that fill the field have no ownership stake in the league itself.

What used to be back-channel complaints has become sworn testimony, and with every passing week, the courtroom feels less like a legal setting and more like a negotiation table for the future of American stock-car racing. That’s the environment in which one sentence, almost casual in tone, turned into the most explosive development yet.

Jonathan Marshall drops the bomb that could change NASCAR forever

Last Friday in the Charlotte courtroom, Jonathan Marshall, the executive director of the Race Team Alliance, was under the lights and didn’t pull punches. Questioned about the latest charter talks, he confirmed NASCAR never offered teams any equity in the sport. Then he added the line that’s still echoing: if NASCAR ever went up for sale, some Cup teams would be interested in buying it.

That wasn’t idle talk. Two people close to the situation backed it up over the weekend: several owners have quietly discussed putting together a bid if the France family ever decides to sell. NASCAR has been the France family’s private kingdom since Bill France Sr. started it in 1948. Ownership wasn’t up for debate. But Marshall’s words flipped that script.

The number that came with it made it real: five billion dollars. That’s the valuation Goldman Sachs put on NASCAR Holdings in 2023, according to the team’s lawyer Jeffrey Kessler. It’s the first time that kind of figure has been thrown around in open court, and it suddenly made the whole idea feel less like fantasy and more like a business plan. A team-led buyout wouldn’t be some symbolic grab. It would need massive money, smart deals, and probably partners from outside the garage.

NASCAR isn’t shopping itself. The France family looked into it back in 2018 with Goldman Sachs, but people who’ve talked to the top folks say there’s no interest now. But the timing is wild. The trial has already dug up documents showing NASCAR sweating the launch of LIV Golf and the Superstar Racing Experience, two breakaways that shook up their sports. Now teams are talking about owning the league instead of renting space in it? That’s a whole new level of pressure.

Outside money is already floating in the conversation, too. Big entertainment companies with sports portfolios, like Liberty Media or TKO Group Holdings, get mentioned as possible buyers. Those are the kinds of outfits that turn sports into global content machines. If NASCAR ever hits the block for real, it wouldn’t just be racers with checkbooks.

Right now it’s all theory, but Marshall’s comment wasn’t a throwaway. What kicked off as a money fight over charters has exploded into talk about who actually owns the sport. Teams that have poured billions into cars, facilities, and careers are suddenly wondering if they should own the whole thing instead of begging for scraps.

The France family built NASCAR from dirt tracks to billion-dollar TV deals. But after seventy-seven years, the garage is asking the question nobody thought they’d hear: what if it’s time for someone else to take the wheel?

Friday afternoon, the courtroom overflowed for the main event: Michael Jordan on the stand.

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Michael Jordan says teams deserve fair treatment

The six-time NBA champ, Chicago Bulls legend, and 23XI co-owner didn’t come to talk jump shots. He came to talk about racing and why he and Denny Hamlin built a team only to end up suing the sport they love.

Jordan told the jury he fell for NASCAR as a kid, going to Talladega with his family when he was eleven. He never misses a race now, flying to ten or twelve in person every year. Hamlin pitched the team idea, and Jordan bought the first charter for 4.7 million in 2020. The third one in 2024 cost 28 million. He’s in this deep because he believes teams aren’t getting treated right.

“In the NBA, players and owners share the growth and the loss,” he said. “That’s not the case here.” Teams have been asking for change for years, and as a new owner, Jordan said he was ready to push from a fresh angle. He thinks the system leaves teams taking all the risk with none of the reward.

Lawyers showed texts between Jordan and his agent about getting media attention and helping other teams understand what “fair” looks like. Heather Gibbs from Joe Gibbs Racing testified earlier that she felt pressured to sign the charters in 2024, like there was no real choice.

Jordan’s testimony connected straight to Marshall’s buyout talk. If teams aren’t partners, if they’re just renters, why not buy the house? The five-billion-dollar price tag makes it real. Jordan didn’t say he’d bid, but he made it clear: fair treatment or bust.

The trial rolls on Monday, but Jordan walking into that room changed it. The France family built an empire. Now, a guy who built his own is asking why the renters can’t become owners. Five billion dollars says it’s not impossible anymore.