The 2024 NASCAR off-season is proving to be a very busy one for series president, Steve Phelps. Now, post-season is always busy for NASCAR because a lot of work has to be done before the new year kicks off. However, the 2024 campaign has been particularly strenuous because the sport is caught up in a big lawsuit. The spearhead behind the lawsuit is NBA legend Michael Jordan, who happens to own a NASCAR Cup team with Denny Hamlin.
In a recent conversation with The Athletic, Phelps spoke about the effect the lawsuit is having on him. The interview harked back to 2023 when the president acknowledged that he was getting ‘sleepless nights.’ This was largely because he was aware that there were a lot of things on his plate in the build-up to the new season. Fast-forward to nearly a year later, and is the answer the same? Surprisingly, the NASCAR president insisted that things were going along swimmingly.
That is despite the recent struggles with getting teams to sign a new charter agreement. Unfortunately, that situation has led to 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports filing a lawsuit against the sport. He didn’t address the Michael Jordan lawsuit in so many words but implied that he is confident that they can get past this. Additionally, from the sounds of it, NASCAR seems to have bigger plans in mind from 2025 onwards, and he is excited.
Phelps told The Athletic, “I am actually not. I’m really encouraged by the direction that the sport is going. I think we are well positioned as we get into ’25 with new media partners, a great product on the racetrack, some really good storylines, and overall a healthy sport. So to me, I’m sleeping very soundly. Now, it doesn’t mean we don’t have things to do. We’ve got lots to do and there are lots of opportunities for us to grow, both domestically and internationally.”
This is a developing story.