After a year of jostling in the courtroom, the NASCAR lawsuit is approaching a climax. The fear of losing the charter system made nine Cup Series team owners root for a resolution. And that made an impact on the sanctioning body and the plaintiff teams. So, NASCAR may have finally settled with 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports. However, memories of animosity still linger.

Michael Jordan and Co. filed the lawsuit last October, accusing NASCAR of ‘monopolistic practices’ in the sport. They demanded the ‘discovery’ of crucial files and evidence which would prove this claim. As part of the process of discovery, some unpleasant exchanges came to light in late August. Yet NASCAR’s top brass dialed down one such exchange recently.

A bitter chapter in the NASCAR lawsuit

The court hearing in late August turned acrimonious. It involved the disclosure of expletive-laden emails and text messages of both parties. On the NASCAR executive fold’s part, the topics were changes in the charter system. Commissioner Steve Phelps was concerned about the proposal, saying that it “must reflect a middle position or we are dead in the water.” However, President Steve O’Donnell’s messages were more unfiltered. He apparently did not like the early proposal because it would return NASCAR’s model to 1996 terms. He wrote that it shows an attitude of “F— the teams, dictatorship, motorsport, redneck, southern, tiny sport.”

In a recent episode of The Dale Jr Download, the NASCAR head cleared things up. Steve O’Donnell laid down the actual context of his text message. “I’m a passionate guy. I wear my emotions on my sleeve, probably too much, right? The way it was presented in court was that I said, ‘F the teams.’ Um, I didn’t say that…the context was if we did this deal the way it was, I felt like it would be an F to the teams. I was defending the teams to my boss, which was which was Jim France. So, that was a little disappointing that it came out initially without the context.” 

The text messages discovered on the part of Michael Jordan and Co. were also inflammatory. “Teams are going to regret not joining us,” Jordan wrote in a text message to Curtis Polk, his business manager and 23XI Racing’s co-owner. Then Denny Hamlin, another co-owner of the team, also wrote, “My despise for the France family runs deep… (but) please let’s not sabotage our own business.” Unfortunately, both 23XI and FRM lost their charters soon after and are presently running as open teams.

So Steve O’Donnell emphasized the movement towards an amicable settlement of the NASCAR lawsuit. He urged the need to forget the past animosity: “I feel like, all that’s out there, I knew it’s out there. There’s no surprises. The other side’s kind of emptied their bucket of here’s all our text messages. It sucks getting deposed…I stand by the fact that, you know, I was trying to put a deal together that worked for everybody. We made some changes since I said that before we got to the end deal. I feel like we got to a place that other teams, you know, got their arms around.”

While the NASCAR lawsuit rages on, Michael Jordan is actively involved in his business.

Dropping some snazzy kicks

Despite the cloud of controversy in the NASCAR lawsuit, Michael Jordan’s fame is unparalleled. The legend is so much more than a Cup Series team owner, as people all over the world praise the six-time NBA champion. Jordan’s time under the Chicago Bulls is hailed as extraordinary and is remembered with pride by fans who wear Air Jordans, the iconic sneaker line. Notably, the champion debuted the Air Jordan 11 model when he returned from playing Minor League Baseball. And since then, that has been the most popular model in the entire sneaker line.

So, fans were indubitably thrilled to see Michael Jordan debuting the upcoming Air Jordan 11 “285” colorway. He wore the smooth kicks while attending the Bank of America Roval 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course. The “285” colorway pays homage to Atlanta with a new design that nods to Interstate 285, which encircles the city and embodies its vibrant culture. The kicks will officially be released for $250 in adult sizes on Saturday, November 22. However, they will be sold exclusively in-store at select regional retail partner locations in North America.

Michael Jordan’s fame never ceases to soar above the clouds. However, we are waiting to see how far his fortunes will go in the ongoing NASCAR lawsuit.