NASCAR's 2025 season ended in early November, and there are still two full months left before the 2026 campaign is scheduled to kick off with the Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium. But that doesn't mean the winter break has been a quiet one.
If you've followed anything about NASCAR for the past two years, you're probably well aware that two teams, 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports, are currently involved in an antitrust lawsuit against the sport's sanctioning body. There has certainly been no shortage of entertainment.
At least, that would be one way to put it. Another is: What. An. Embarrassment.
NASCAR's courtroom circus continues to outdo itself
Back in late August, some text messages between various figures involved in the case were leaked. They included 23XI Racing team president Steve Lauletta effectively wishing Jim France would die and team co-owner (and Joe Gibbs Racing driver) Denny Hamlin admitting his hatred of the France family "runs deep". This was only the appetizer.
Weeks ago, more remarks surfaced that NASCAR President Steve Phelps had made in a text thread with fellow executive Brian Herbst. Specifically, he referred to team owner Richard Childress as a "stupid redneck" who "needs to be taken out back and flogged". This, suffice to say, did not go over well.
Phelps' comments validated what many have felt about NASCAR's sanctioning body throughout the case: that it is out of touch and paranoid about perceived threats to its authority.
Former drivers such as Mark Martin and Jeremy Mayfield weighed in to share such sentiments, and fans, who have already been frustrated enough with the sport's leadership as it is, have been nothing short of fuming.
That said, it's not as if there is much room to sympathize with anyone else here. Childress responded to Phelps' comments by threatening to sue NASCAR, for... what, exactly? Mean things being said about him?
His team's statement reads as incredibly tone-deaf, naturally pulling out his go-to working-class hero card to play the victim. Such a poor little guy that he has the privilege to threaten legal action over hurt feelings.
Then there's Hamlin, who took exception to an article written by ESPN journalist Ryan McGee regarding the case and used it as an opportunity to fuel his own desperate "please like me" campaign. Someone should remind him that it's the media's job to tell both sides of a story, not only his.
Please give credit to @mforde for helping you write this propaganda piece that they want pushed to switch the narrative. Continuous lies about our stance, NASCARs motives for its actions, and continued message from the sanctioning body that everything is fine. Our fans know…
— Denny Hamlin (@dennyhamlin) November 28, 2025
Long story short, nobody is coming out of this looking like anything more than a bunch of overgrown children. "He did it!" "He started it!" "He said this, he said that!" It's the type of behavior you'd expect to see on an elementary school playground.
Maybe some fans have a side they feel passionately in favor of – likely the teams' side, so that they can vicariously live out their own fantasy of sticking it to the man. But for others, this whole charade has done nothing but make everybody look worse, and all that can be felt is pure apathy.
Whoever wins the case is irrelevant at this point. Just let this absolute clown show be over with already so that NASCAR fans can talk about racing again.