During day four of the trial between NASCAR and 23XI Racing/Front Row Motorsports, NASCAR President and long-time COO Steve O’Donnell opened up on his thoughts on the now-defunct racing series, Superstar Racing Experience, following text messages expressing his concerns about the series.
What’s Happening? Friday, documents, including messages from NASCAR officials and interteam communications, were unsealed as part of the ongoing lawsuit between…
On November 22, towards the end of the discovery period of the antitrust lawsuit filed against NASCAR by race teams 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports, new text messages shared between NASCAR officials were unsealed by the court.
Though many remember these texts for the now viral 2023 messages sent by NASCAR Commissioner Steve Phelps (then NASCAR President) regarding team owner Richard Childress, the initial backlash was in regard to comments made by current NASCAR President and former COO Steve O’Donnell.
In these texts, the first to truly make waves in the NASCAR community, O’Donnell expressed concerns about SRX, a spec racing series that operated on short tracks from 2021 to 2023.
Despite racing on small tracks and never even attempting a race on a larger stage, SRX was loved by many race fans and had a major TV package, first with CBS Sports in 2021 and 2022, then with ESPN in 2023.
The series, which made up its field with current and former legendary drivers from across motorsports like IndyCar, NASCAR, and even the NHRA, also had the backing of founders Ray Evernham and Tony Stewart.
While the series fell apart after 2023 and has since seen its physical assets liquidated, these texts shared between O’Donnell and other NASCAR officials showed that SRX was not only on NASCAR’s radar but, perhaps for a fleeting moment, a perceived threat.
The messages unsealed in late November came from two exchanges at two different times.
The earliest of these was from June 2022, which was after Trackhouse Racing owner and former racer Justin Marks announced his intentions to race in the SRX event at Stafford Motor Speedway.
In regard to this announcement, an unknown sender texted in THE group chat his frustration with Marks, saying that “they just don’t get it.”
“They” is in reference to NASCAR drivers and owners who competed in SRX, with the redacted sender referring specifically to Chase Elliott, Ryan Blaney, and former Stewart-Haas Racing co-owner/SRX co-founder Tony Stewart.
The sender even mentioned that SRX had higher ratings than the NASCAR Camping World Truck and Xfinity Series race at Nashville Superspeedway the week prior to these messages.
O’Donnell responded to comments about NASCAR drivers and NASCAR Alumni competing in SRX, saying it is exhibit “a” that nobody gives a shit about what got them their careers.”
In this exchange, then NASCAR President Steve Phelps compared SRX to LIV Golf, a golf league that rivals the PGA Tour that used PGA defectors to help build its worldwide footprint.
But the exchange that most couldn’t keep their eyes off came from February 2023, when 23XI Racing co-owner, now turned plaintiff, Denny Hamlin announced he would race in the SRX race at Stafford in July.
This time around, O’Donnell let it all out, questioning if NASCAR’s legal team should step in, saying, “This is NASCAR. Pure and simple. Enough. We need legal to take a shot at this.”
Furthermore, in a somewhat overlooked response, Phelps texts in this group chat, “Need to put a knife in this trash series.”
These messages shocked fans of NASCAR in two ways; first and foremost was the explosive nature of the responses from these businessmen.
The second most shocking aspect was the veiled threats of legal action against the now-defunct racing series from O’Donnell, something that would likely not be a good look in an antitrust case. Thursday, NASCAR fans finally got to hear O’Donnell’s side of this exchange during examination by 23XI/FRM attorney Jeffery Kessler.
Per Matt Weaver of Motorsport.com, when asked about SRX, O’Donnell said in the second and third seasons of SRX, he was concerned because “it started to look more and more like NASCAR.”
Kessler brought up the exclusivity contracts that NASCAR had with tracks owned by third parties, and how, despite what O’Donnell deems a competitor to NASCAR, these agreements specifically prevented tracks from hosting SRX events, though they asked for an exception from NASCAR.
In response, O’Donnell told Kessler the reason for this denial was the negotiations for the 2025-2031 media rights negotiations, and, per Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports, SRX could impact negotiations.
Thursday’s session was the fourth of what could be a lengthy trial that, as of press time, has had just four individuals give testimony. In fact, per those in court, Judge Bell warned both sides that they needed to pick up their pace and even threatened to push uncooperative witnesses to answer questions.
The trial will resume tomorrow morning, before breaking for the weekend and resuming on Monday. Estimates were that it could end as soon as Friday, December 12, though the slow pace of testimony could push a ruling into a third week.
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