A court hearing featuring NASCAR, 23XI Racing, and Front Row Motorsports revealed the existence of “project gold codes,” which involved the sanctioning body fielding all Cup Series cars. A Court filing has now provided full details of this boycott contingency plan.
According to the Friday filing, the project gold codes presentation occurred in 2024 as charter negotiations continued between NASCAR and the teams.
NASCAR came up with plans for how it would respond if teams decided to boycott a race. This plan included timelines for boycotts that occurred after practice, on the starting grid, after taking the green flag, and if support series became involved. Project gold codes also included responses for boycotts lasting a significant amount of time.
As part of filing to request NASCAR counterclaim thrown out, 23XI/FRM included NASCAR in-house meeting presentation on working contingency plan if teams boycotted events or left series, including NASCAR owning all cars. It was called “project gold codes.” … Boycott plan (1/5) pic.twitter.com/jQw1xSWOMM
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) September 13, 2025
If a boycott occurred at a track where a support series raced, project gold codes would feature this series moving to the main event of the weekend. For example, the Xfinity Series could take over if a boycott occurred a track where it raced alongside the Cup Series.
If a boycott occurred in the sixth months or less time period, NASCAR would try to fill the field with a mix of Next Gen chartered cars, Next Gen open cars, NASCAR Xfinity Series cars, and ARCA Menards Series cars. The presentation also mentioned reducing the field size to 30 entries.
If a boycott occurred in the six to 18 month range, NASCAR would offer better terms to existing charter holders while also offering expansion opportunities. Project gold codes also allowed for offering charters to new team owners.
The extensive list of examples included existing NASCAR teams such as ThorSport Racing, Niece Motorsports, Sam Hunt Racing, and JR Motorsports. It also included owners in other series such as Andretti, Ganassi, Rahal, and Wayne Taylor.
The list of new charter owners also included newcomers to the sport. One interesting example on the list was Mumford and Sons.
Of course, the most interesting part of this presentation featured boycotts that potentially lasted more than 18 months. This part included NASCAR’s estimations for the amount of money required to field its own teams, complete with pit crews, buildings, and haulers.
According to the presentation, the investment for 36 entries would be more than $600 million. This estimate included more than $160 million in the first year for haulers, car parts, pit equipment, building technology, and building equipment.
The estimate also included more than $217 million for drivers, road crews, pit crews, spotters, shop crews, and building personnel. The estimate included $54 million for engines to power all of the Cup Series cars and $72 million in transportation costs.
Ultimately, NASCAR did not have to turn to project gold codes. Boycotts did not occur, and 13 of the 15 team owners signed the 2025 Charter Agreement.
Yet, project gold codes came to light as the antitrust lawsuit trial moved closer, something Judge Kenneth D. Bell indicated would happen as part of this discovery process.