Retired NBA superstar Michael Jordan took the stand in a landmark NASCAR antitrust case, testifying Friday that he had been a fan of the series since he was a kid but felt he had no choice but to sue to force changes in a business model that he believed shorted teams and drivers who risked their lives to keep the sport going.
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Jordan testified for an hour before a packed courtroom. His celebrity drew jeers from the judge and even defense attorneys as he outlined why his co-owned team, 23XI, was in court with Front Row Motorsports against America’s premier stock car series.
“Someone has to stand up and challenge this entity,” the soft-spoken Jordan told the jury. “I’ve been in meetings with long-term owners who have been threatened over the years to try to make changes. I’m a new guy and I’m not afraid. I feel like I can challenge NASCAR as a whole. I feel like as far as the sport is concerned, it needs to be looked at from a different perspective.”
Jordan’s much-anticipated appearance followed dramatic testimony from Heather Gibbs, the daughter-in-law of team owner Joe Gibbs, recounting the chaotic six hours it took for teams to sign extensions or give up charters that guarantee weekly revenue during NASCAR’s 38-race season.
“This document is a business document you would never sign,” said Heather Gibbs, who is also a licensed real estate agent. “It’s like a gun to your head: If you don’t sign, you have nothing.”
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Chartering is equivalent to the franchise model used in other sports, and in NASCAR it guarantees each chartered vehicle a spot in every race and a clear bonus from the series. The system was created in 2016, and during more than two years of extension negotiations, the team pleaded to make the renewable concessions permanent to ensure stable revenue.
When NASCAR declined to make it permanent in September 2024, giving teams six hours to sign a 112-page extension, 23XI and Front Row Motorsports were the only two of 15 organizations to refuse. Instead, they filed an antitrust lawsuit and a trial begins Monday on their claims that NASCAR is a monopoly bully. 23XI is co-owned by Jordan and three-time Daytona 500 champion Denny Hamlin, and Front Row is owned by fast-food franchisee Bob Jenkins.
Jordan testified that despite the uncertainty, 23XI purchased a third charter in late 2024 for $28 million.
“I’m pretty sure they know I love winning,” the six-time NBA champion said. “Danny convinced me to have a third driver to improve our chances of winning, so I gave it my all.”
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Like other witnesses this week, Jordan described NASCAR’s refusal to discuss options or potential changes to a charter system he supports. He was asked why 23XI didn’t sign a contract extension last fall.
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Jordan pointed to the NBA’s business model, which shares about half of its revenue with players, far more than NASCAR.
“The revenue split is far lower than any business I’ve been involved in. We don’t think we’ll ever reach the level of basketball, but we want to move in that direction,” he said. “What I see in NASCAR that I think is missing is a shared responsibility for growth and loss.”
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Jordan said he owns 60% of 23XI and has invested $35 million to $40 million in the team. Jenkins testified earlier this week that the NASCAR team has never turned a profit since it was founded in the early 2000s and estimated that even winning the Daytona 500 in 2021 would cost him $100 million.
Heather Gibbs earlier told the jury she became co-owner of Joe Gibbs Racing, where their son Ty won NASCAR’s second-level Xfinity Series championship in 2022, a day after her husband, Coy, died unexpectedly in his sleep. Coy Gibbs assumed leadership of JGR following the death of his brother JD in 2019.
As Gibbs lost two sons and built the team as a family legacy, his daughter-in-law took an active role in the organization and was personally involved in negotiating the franchise extension. When NASCAR made its final offer at 6 p.m. Friday, just hours before signing, the agreement did not include a permanent franchise. Gibbs testified that the group was devastated.
“Everything is moving so fast and Coy’s estate, JD’s estate, everyone at JGR is very frustrated,” she told the jury. She said her father-in-law called NASCAR chairman Jim France to plead for a solution.
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“Jo said, ‘Jim, you can’t do this,'” she said. “Jim’s done talking.”
Heather Gibbs said she had to leave to take her son to a baseball game in Chapel Hill, and she left worried about her father-in-law, who was 84 at the time.
“I had him sit in the dark and listen to his blood glucose monitor go off,” she testified. “We decided we had to sign. We couldn’t lose everything. I didn’t think it was a fair deal for the team.”
Joe Gibbs is both a NASCAR Hall of Fame owner and an NFL Hall of Fame coach. He led the Washington Football Team to three Super Bowl titles and JGR to five Cup titles. JGR has 450 employees, charters four Cup cars, and relies entirely on outside sponsorship and investors to keep the team afloat. The team will enter its 35th season next year, and Gibbs told the jury that JGR needs a permanent franchise to protect its investment in NASCAR.
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“That’s the most important thing, a permanent place in their history books,” she testified. “It’s absolutely critical for our team to know that we have security, that it can’t be taken away from us, that what we invest in is ours.”
Video: NASCAR execs return to witness stand in high-stakes antitrust trial