Denny Hamlin's reaction says it all after repulsive Jim France death text

The 23XI Racing/Front Row Motorsports charter agreement saga continues to move forward (and get uglier and uglier), and Thursday was an explosive day in court for the two teams that sued NASCAR last fall after making the decision, unlike the other 13 Cup teams, not to sign the new charter agreement.

Thursday's hearing saw the release of several emails and text messages from individuals associated with 23XI Racing, including co-owners Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan, as well as team president Steve Lauletta and Curtis Polk, who is Jordan's business manager.

We're not going to pretend to be legal experts regarding the specifics of the case, so we're going to cut to the chase. The revealing, and somewhat damning, messages were among the "highlights", if you will, from the hearing, and for good reason.

Denny Hamlin reaction says it all after repulsive text revealed

NASCAR, which is owned by the France family, is currently headed by chairman Jim France, the son of Bill France Sr. In a text message revealed in court, Lauletta, regarding the team's investment strategy, stated that "Jim dying is probably the answer" over the long haul.

While it may not be an explicit death threat/wish, such a message, even if intended as a joke, was unquestionably written in poor taste, and it's not the kind of thing that bodes well for 23XI Racing, nor something should they be proud of.

However, this is more of a reflection on Lauletta than anybody else, even as a representative of the team. Hamlin, while not hiding his own feelings toward Jim and the France family, made it clear that he was not on board with such a sentiment, stating that "my despise for the France family runs deep... please let's not sabotage our own business."

Hamlin is obviously not happy with how things have gone between NASCAR and the teams, and the 2025 season has only magnified that disdain.

But you have to give him credit for not being a yes-man and simply falling in line with such a repulsive text from a team executive who should not only know better than to say something like that, but should know how to act, even when he might have thought nobody was watching.

Yes, we wish he would have gone a step further and addressed the human side of Lauletta's repulsive message, rather than just the business side, but still.

NASCAR charter saga moves forward

As of now, the six 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports cars are set to continue to run as non-chartered (open) teams, and both teams have said that they risk going out of business if NASCAR sells their charters, even though they would be compensated for the sales themselves.

NASCAR has long maintained that there are enough potential buyers lined up to keep the series with 36 chartered entries, meaning that six 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports would effectively be battling, along with any other open teams, for four open spots in each race, should they continue to run full-time.

Additionally, Tyler Reddick is known to have a deal in his 23XI Racing contract which allows him to look for other rides if he is not guaranteed a chartered car, and he and his sponsors have reportedly already alerted 23XI Racing that they risk him taking advantage of that capability.