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Michael Jeffrey Jordan, introducing himself formally in a Charlotte court on Friday, stated that his drive to win and novelty within the sport emboldened his effort with 23XI Racing to confront Nascar over alleged violations of antitrust rules.

Team Investment and a Will to Win

Jordan shared financial and corporate details of his racing venture, saying he invested $40m of his own funds into the Nascar Cup series team co-founded with partner Polk and longtime driver Denny Hamlin.

“Someone had to step forward,” Jordan said in the Charlotte courtroom. “I was a new person, I had no fear. I felt I could challenge Nascar in its entirety. From my perspective, the sport required examination from a different view.”

The Core Dispute: Charter Agreements and Contract Pressure

The heart of the case involves the end of a 2016 agreement where Nascar granted each team a “charter”. The concept is similar to other professional sports with separately owned franchises, like the Charlotte Hornets or the Carolina Panthers. The agreement was set to expire in 2024 when Nascar demanded charter membership renewals.

Jordan was on the witness stand for about sixty minutes and left the court to pandemonium, with fans and media clamoring for a view or a photo of the sports legend.

Spearheading the Fight

23XI Racing is at the forefront of the push along with another racing team for Nascar to change a operating model Jordan contended is breaking the law to maintain excessive control.

At issue for Jordan and a fellow team representative, who preceded Jordan, are events from September 2024. She recounted a hectic and tense period where the sanctioning body informed teams they had to sign a contract extension. This agreement spanned 112 pages outlining team compensation and a guaranteed entry in Nascar-sponsored races.

A Refusal to Sign

Jordan said that his team and its ally concluded their only feasible option was to decline to sign that 112-page package and litigate the matter. The other 13 organizations signed the agreement.

Jordan and co-owner Denny Hamlin approached Nascar about potential amendments or negotiations. Nascar refused to engage, Jordan said.

The Bottom Line: Winning

But in the end, the pushback against what he saw as a financially unsustainable model was driven by the usual bottom line for Jordan: Winning.

“Denny convinced me getting a third driver boosted our odds of winning,” he testified, noting that he bought a third charter late in 2024 for $28m amid the legal dispute. “So I dove in.”

Heather Gibbs’ Testimony

Gibbs described her request for permanent charters, which she said a written letter to Nascar. She said the pressure of the contract signing demand was problematic.

She said, the team founder first tried to call and talk Nascar out of demanding signatures, but Nascar’s leader declined the request.

“Don’t do this to us,” Heather Gibbs said Joe Gibbs told Nascar’s executives. The response was, “Whether I have 20 charters, I have 20. If I have 30, I have 30.”