{"id":422962,"date":"2025-12-04T00:44:27","date_gmt":"2025-12-04T00:44:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/422962\/"},"modified":"2025-12-04T00:44:27","modified_gmt":"2025-12-04T00:44:27","slug":"bob-jenkins-co-plaintiff-with-michael-jordan-testifies-on-day-3-of-nascar-trial","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/422962\/","title":{"rendered":"Bob Jenkins, co-plaintiff with Michael Jordan, testifies on Day 3 of NASCAR trial"},"content":{"rendered":"

CHARLOTTE, N.C. \u2014 Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin\u2019s 23XI Racing are suing NASCAR for antitrust violations<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But their co-plaintiff, Bob Jenkins of Front Row Motorsports, has largely flown under the radar throughout the lead-up to this week\u2019s federal court trial.<\/p>\n

Until Wednesday, anyway.<\/p>\n

Jenkins took the stand Wednesday afternoon as the third witness in the proceedings and told jury members how his two-decade journey as a NASCAR Cup Series team owner has never ended in an operational profit for any year, resulting in an average loss of $6.8 million per season.<\/p>\n

He lost $8 million in 2022 alone, he said, followed by another $5.7 million loss the next year.<\/p>\n

Jenkins told the jury he is a lifelong race fan whose business success in other ventures has allowed him to remain in NASCAR as \u201cthe team that has done the most with the least\u201d despite losing tens of millions of dollars in stock car racing.<\/p>\n

He relayed tales of his childhood, when he grew up in an East Tennessee housing project as the son of a factory worker who bagged groceries at night. He ended up as one of the largest fast food franchise owners in the United States.<\/p>\n

All along, he loved NASCAR. He and his friend would drive to races all over the South, and Jenkins was a charter member of the Dale Earnhardt Fan Club.<\/p>\n

When he once vowed to own a Cup Series car while watching a race, his wife told him: \u201cWe don\u2019t even own our (street) car yet.\u201d<\/p>\n

Undeterred, Jenkins eventually became owner of the three-car Front Row Motorsports team, which is so focused on making ends meet that it brings its own ice to the racetrack each week to save money.<\/p>\n

\"Denny<\/p>\n

\n 23XI Racing co-owner Denny Hamlin, left, with Front Row Motorsports owner Bob Jenkins. (Jeff Robinson \/ Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

That\u2019s where Jenkins\u2019 interest in this lawsuit came in. Jenkins said he took offense to hearing NASCAR say teams need to cut costs because he\u2019s already as lean as can be.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can assure you it\u2019s not from malpractice,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re very frugal.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jenkins has persisted as a team owner, he said, not because NASCAR\u2019s charter agreements are fair but \u201cbased on the belief someday they will be fair.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we ever do get it right, NASCAR teams will be valuable,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

But Jenkins, like Jordan and Hamlin\u2019s team, has no charters, the franchise-like system that comes with certain financial and other guarantees to teams and is at the center of this legal dispute<\/a>. Their charters expired when the teams refused to sign the latest charter agreement last September<\/a> and brought a lawsuit instead. Other owners told Jenkins they did not want to sign it either and were apologetic, he said, but \u201cthey knew they had to blindly sign it or not\u201d with a sudden deadline on Sept. 6, 2024.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey can\u2019t walk away from (their investments),\u201d Jenkins said. \u201cYou can\u2019t turn a race shop into a warehouse.\u201d<\/p>\n

NASCAR attorney Lawrence Buterman was skeptical of Jenkins\u2019 money-losing claims and accused the owner of hiding expenses that could have otherwise made Front Row\u2019s finances look better.<\/p>\n

For example: In five races this season, Jenkins put Long John Silver\u2019s \u2014 a company owned by his four sons \u2014 on what would otherwise be unsponsored cars. Buterman said that equated to Jenkins \u201cgiving your children millions of dollars in free advertising.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Jenkins explained he will not run a blank car in a race because it\u2019s bad for business, and his company only puts one of Jenkins\u2019 family businesses on a car when no sponsor can be found in time for the event.<\/p>\n

Buterman then questioned why Jenkins only pays his drivers 8.5 percent of team revenues while claiming NASCAR underpaid the teams with 25 percent of revenues.<\/p>\n

Jenkins called it apples and oranges, saying teams have far more costs than other sports, like their $350,000 race cars.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t wreck a $350,000 basketball,\u201d he said of NBA teams\u2019 costs.<\/p>\n

NASCAR executive\u2019s role in charter deals in focus<\/p>\n

Earlier Wednesday, NASCAR strategy chief Scott Prime continued to try to fend off accusations of his company\u2019s alleged illegal monopoly power abuses as testimony continued Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Prime, a NASCAR executive vice president, was on the stand for a second day as Jeffrey Kessler \u2014 the attorney representing 23XI and Front Row \u2014 used Prime\u2019s emails and corporate communications to paint a picture of what he said were NASCAR\u2019s monopolistic abuses.<\/p>\n

Prime originally worked for consulting firm McKinsey, during which he prepared a 2014 report expressing \u201cconcerns over the longevity of the sport\u201d if NASCAR did not take steps to improve the health of its race teams.<\/p>\n

One such step in his report included taxi-like \u201cmedallions,\u201d which ultimately came to fruition in NASCAR\u2019s charter system.<\/p>\n

Kessler noted how despite the charter system\u2019s existence, teams are hamstrung by a weak negotiating position and stuck in unfavorable terms when it comes to renewing charters because they have nowhere else to go.<\/p>\n

Kessler cited a 2019 letter from one team that asked for a better business model with more sustainable revenues to aid in teams\u2019 viability, which Prime acknowledged resulted in no changes to new charter agreements in 2020.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe presented the offer and they accepted it,\u201d Prime said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re a monopoly!\u201d Kessler said. \u201cThere\u2019s no place else to compete. There was no place else for them to go, correct?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNASCAR is the premier stock car racing series today, yes,\u201d Prime said.<\/p>\n

During the 2024 charter negotiations, one email from Prime to other executives relayed four demands from the race teams he found \u201cquite disappointing\u201d because the teams said they would be \u201cforced to recommit our energy to exploring all our options\u201d if NASCAR did not agree.<\/p>\n

That heightened concerns of a breakaway stock car series formed by the race teams, to which Prime laid out various options of how NASCAR could respond \u2014 including reducing the number of charters and offering them on a \u201cfirst come, first served\u201d basis to create a panic among the teams, updating the charter language to NASCAR\u2019s liking and then offering a take-it-or-leave-it deadline to sign, dissolving the charter system altogether, or taking all of the cars in house and eliminating the need for race teams.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou accurately reflected our options,\u201d then-NASCAR president Steve Phelps responded to Prime in an email. \u201cThey are playing with fire. Lots of options, but all have the same theme: Pick a date and they can sign or lose their charters. It is that simple.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOnly a monopolist could say this,\u201d Kessler claimed. \u201cOnly a monopolist has the power to say, \u2018Take my offer and if you don\u2019t take it, you will no longer be in this business, and someone else will take your place.’\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Michael<\/p>\n

\n Michael Jordan, NBA legend and one of 23XI Racing\u2019s co-owners, arriving at the courthouse on Monday. (Grant Baldwin \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Ultimately, NASCAR did present a take-it-or-leave-it offer to teams on Sept. 6, 2024 \u2014 an option Prime had described as \u201ca gun to your head,\u201d though he did not favor that.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s what Jim wanted,\u201d Kessler said, speaking of NASCAR chairman and CEO Jim France, also a defendant in the lawsuit.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know what he wanted,\u201d Prime replied.<\/p>\n

Prime was portrayed as a moderate who was trying hard to strike a fair deal with teams. It was NASCAR\u2019s board of directors, headed by France, who appeared to be pushing back.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo bueno with Jim on charters,\u201d Prime wrote via text after one meeting. \u201cCan say (then-COO Steve O\u2019Donnell) and I put our best foot forward, but it was a brick wall.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m sorry to hear this,\u201d Phelps responded. \u201cSuper disappointing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Inside the courtroom, Hamlin leaned forward and looked across the aisle to gauge any reaction from the France family and their representatives, who sat expressionless.<\/p>\n

Kessler also brought up NASCAR\u2019s \u201cgoodwill provision\u201d in its charter agreements, which says any owner of a race team \u2014 even a minority owner of only 10 percent \u2014 may not own a team nor invest in a competing stock car series.<\/p>\n

Kessler called it a \u201cnon-compete\u201d agreement and not a \u201cgoodwill\u201d provision, which Prime disagreed with.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not goodwill, it\u2019s anti-competitive will,\u201d Kessler said. \u201cShouldn\u2019t that be the name?\u201d<\/p>\n

NASCAR\u2019s attorneys objected to that statement, and the judge sustained it.<\/p>\n

But Kessler kept going, citing the goodwill provision\u2019s clause that states even if a charter team leaves NASCAR or simply forfeits the charter, it still cannot join a competitor series for more than a year.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd you think that\u2019s goodwill?\u201d Kessler said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do,\u201d Prime responded.<\/p>\n

Kessler also cited Prime\u2019s strategy document calling for intellectual property protections for NASCAR\u2019s \u201cNext Gen\u201d model car after pondering a change from its former \u201cGen 6\u201d car. Prime wrote that without IP protection, it \u201cincreases risk to NASCAR of the creation of a copycat series.\u201d<\/p>\n

As it turned out, NASCAR installed rulebook language that says teams cannot use their Next Gen car in any series but NASCAR. Prime said that was a standard IP practice, since NASCAR is the one that came up with the car and designed it.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was never an issue with the teams,\u201d Prime said. \u201cThey understood the Next Gen car design and all the protections that went with it, yes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Later, under cross-examination, Prime said the teams\u2019 demand of $20 million per car in revenue payouts would \u201cput NASCAR bankrupt\u201d and denied the earlier communications were a sign of ill intent on NASCAR\u2019s part.<\/p>\n

Prime said what he meant, during his earlier testimony Tuesday<\/a>, by trying to \u201clock up\u201d the tracks was simply signing them for the next season\u2019s schedule, not excluding them from a competitor series, and said the idea of permanent charters did not make sense for anyone. Owning one of the 36 available charters allows a team entry into every Cup Series points race and a guaranteed floor of revenue.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can\u2019t negotiate a deal and have the exact same deal forever,\u201d Prime said. \u201cYou can\u2019t write a contract today that\u2019s going to last forever.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CHARLOTTE, N.C. \u2014 Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin\u2019s 23XI Racing are suing NASCAR for antitrust violations. But their…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":422963,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[1833,1406,62,222,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-422962","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-motorsports","9":"tag-nascar","10":"tag-sports","11":"tag-sports-business","12":"tag-united-states","13":"tag-unitedstates","14":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115658535139417229","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/422962","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=422962"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/422962\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/422963"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=422962"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=422962"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=422962"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}