Seven months ago, a massive lawsuit changed NASCAR forever. Two racing teams, 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports, took NASCAR to federal court. They said the racing league was acting like an illegal monopoly. The case never reached a final verdict. Just nine days into the trial, the teams forced NASCAR to settle.
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Because of this, teams walked away with permanent charters, new ways to make money, and actual voting power over rules changes. It was the biggest change in NASCAR history. Justin Marks, co-owner of Trackhouse Racing, watched all of it happen. He welcomed it. But sitting in meetings since then, he is getting frustrated. Speaking with journalist Jeff Gluck, Marks did not sugarcoat it.
“Frankly, I’m tired of hearing people say we need to work together to grow the sport,” he said. “Okay — then what are we actually going to do?”
New working groups exist now. Teams have a seat at the table on television, marketing, and hospitality decisions. NASCAR CEO Steve O’Donnell has been more open with the teams than his predecessor. The communication is better.
But Marks sees a gap between what gets said in rooms and what actually gets done between them. He wants KPIs. Deadlines. Metrics. Proof that ideas are turning into action.
“We’ve been saying the right things for five years,” he said.
Marks sees two reasons why real progress keeps stalling. The first is time. Team owners are busy trying to win races. That is the job. Finding bandwidth to do work for the sport’s growth, outside of scheduled meetings, is genuinely hard when Sunday is always around the corner.
The second reason is cultural. Teams agree to collaborate, share ideas, and help grow the sport. Then they walk out of the room and go back to trying to beat each other. Collaboration works, Marks said, right up until it starts feeling like a competitive disadvantage.
That tension is staying, but time is running out. NASCAR’s current media rights deal has a few years left. When renewal talks start, the sport needs real growth numbers to negotiate from strength, not goodwill and good meetings. Marks warns that time is moving very fast.
His model for the right mindset comes from an unlikely place. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang runs one of the most valuable companies on earth, but tells himself every morning that the company has 30 days of cash left. It is not true, but it builds discipline. It keeps decisions fast and execution sharp. Marks wants NASCAR to operate the same way.
The settlement changed the NASCAR rules. Now what?
To understand why Marks is pushing this hard, you need to know what it took to get here. In 2024, NASCAR handed teams a take-it-or-leave-it charter renewal. 13 of the 15 team organizations signed under pressure.
23XI and Front Row Motorsports refused, sued, and went to trial. When internal communications were exposed, and NASCAR faced up to $1.09 billion in federal antitrust damages, it settled.
The changes from the settlement were huge. The charters are now permanent. This means teams own them indefinitely and can sell them at market value. Teams receive a cut of international media rights. They get one-third of all IP revenue, covering merchandise, video games, and digital licensing. The teams also gained real voting power. Now, a two-thirds vote by the teams is needed to change any charter rules. None of that existed before the lawsuit.
The foundation is solid. The working groups are set up. Everyone is saying the right things. Marks just wants to see what happens in 14 days. 21 days. 45 days. What is actually different?
“We’ll just have to see how it goes,” he said.
That line hits different when you realize he has been waiting five years to find out.