23XI and FRM’s attorney grills NASCAR exec Scott Prime on $400K salary for ‘putting slides together’

NASCAR Antitrust Lawsuit Trial Begins In Charlotte, North Carolina - Source: Getty
NASCAR Antitrust Lawsuit Trial Begins In Charlotte, North Carolina - Source: Getty

NASCAR Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer Scott Prime took the witness stand during day two of the antitrust trial. 23XI and FRM's attorney, Jeffrey Kessler, questioned his efforts to hinder any rival series from racing in Speedway Motorsports tracks.

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Prime's ordeal began with the non-compete clauses he organised with SMI-owned tracks. The organisation hosts 13 of the 36 Cup races, but isn't allowed to run any other racing series during its five-year agreement with NASCAR.

Kessler argues that this is an anti-competitive tactic employed by the sanctioning body, while Prime retorted that the sport wants to protect tracks from being turned into parking lots and data centers.

However, the sanctioning body hasn't shied away from doing the same. NASCAR sold a part of Autoclub Speedway's Fontana track to host Amazon warehouses.

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When asked about the non-compete clauses put forth by Prime, the executive had an alternative take. Matt Weaver reported on the back and forth, writing,

"As for presentation decks emailed by Prime concerning track sanctioning and non-competes, Prime says he didn't personally construct the slide and that his job was to compile data from others and put it into a deck to email to other leadership executives."
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"Kessler wanted to know how much Prime made. "250,000 salary" Now? "400,000""
""That's a lot for someone that just puts slides together for someone else," Kessler said. "That's your opinion," Prime responded
"This came up because Prime repeatedly said that he doesn't work with tracks or sanctioning agreements and wouldn't be able to speak to the contents of those agreements"
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Internal emails have revealed Scott Prime's true intentions. He'd suggested that the one-year track agreements are too short and left SMI 'vulnerable to outside offers'.


NASCAR attorney challenges 23XI's $205 million damages claim

NASCAR's defence revealed that 23XI is seeking $205 million in damages, but went on to question the viability of the claim. The counsel pointed out that the amount demanded was multifold of the team's initial investment.

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Motorsports journalist Adam Stern recapped the interaction on X, writing,

"NASCAR external counsel Lawrence Buterman said 23XI/FRM are asking for $205 million in damages, that this would be a 900% ROI from what 23XI has invested and grilled [Denny Hamlin] about whether that is a fair ROI. Hamlin also confirmed his JGR salary is around $14M annually."

Denny Hamlin also took the witness stand and provided a testimony that lasted an hour. He appeared to be calm after his cross-examination that went for three hours on Tuesday. The 23XI co-owner was grilled about his team's financials and his salary at Joe Gibbs Racing. He also addressed internal emails that criticised his spending habits.

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Notably, Hamlin took the chance to elaborate on the shortcomings of the 2025 charter deal.

Get the latest NASCAR All-Star race news, Xfinity Series updates, breaking news, rumors, and today’s top stories with the latest news on NASCAR.

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Edited by Vignesh Kanna
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