NASCAR president Steve O’Donnell grilled over private texts calling negotiation approach a ‘dictatorship’ 

NASCAR president Steve O'Donnell had a tough day manoeuvring against Jeffery Kessler's questioning. The 23XI attorney asked O'Donnell who he alluded to when he described the charter negotiation as 'f*ck the teams, dictatorship, motorsport'.

O'Donnell spent close to five hours during Thursday's proceedings. After Scott Prime, O'Donnell is the second executive to take the witness stand. The executive was primarily grilled over his text messages asking for legal action against the Tony Stewart-owned Superstar Racing Experience(SRX) Series.

The NASCAR chief responded that the series deviated from the original concept of veteran drivers to then having one-off races with active drivers and team owners like Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski, Ryan Blaney and Chase Elliott. The move apparently created concern within the sanctioning body about a similar stock car racing series taking away eyeballs.

He then recalled that the text exchange happened during the charter negotiations, when he expected to stay 'hand-in-hand' with team owners, who were out and about promoting SRX.

Reflecting upon the charter negotiations, NASCAR reporter Matt Weaver relayed the following interaction between Kessler and O'Donnell.

"Kessler asked what OD meant by 'dictator' in the following now-discovered text message referring to Jim France's negotiation approach? "Close to a comfortable 1996, fuck the teams, dictatorship, motorsport, redneck, southern, tiny sport."

"It could be anyone," replied O'Donnell.

When OD says 'fuck the teams, who was effing the teams?," asked Kessler.

"O'Donnell again says he was frustrated and that he went to bat for the teams and tried hard to get their POV heard," Weaver wrote.

Matt Weaver

@MattWeaverRA

Jeffrey Kessler's examination of NASCAR now President Steve O'Donnell has concluded Kessler asked what OD meant by 'dictator' in the following now discovered text message referring to Jim Kennedy's negotiation approach? "Close to a comfortable 1996, fuck the teams,

Cup Series veteran Mark Martin expressed his concern over the ongoing trial. He hoped to see a positive turnaround for the sport, but admitted that it's a far-fetched reality.

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"I do not like NASCAR being sued": Kenny Wallace on the antitrust lawsuit

Kenny Wallace addressed the antitrust trial in the latest episode of his YouTube show, Coffee with Kenny. The veteran driver echoed Mark Martin's concerns and shared that there are 'unintended consequences' to the whole ordeal.

“I do not like NASCAR being sued. I think this is bad for our sport. I think it’s ugly. However, I’ve always been a realist… Now, I do look at things in a positive mental attitude... And as much as I love NASCAR and I’ve told you all, they’re being sued, and I can’t help it. I am sad for them and I don’t like it.” (0:51 onwards)

Wallace then went over Kenny Schrader's comments about the same. He was worried that the legal dispute would make the sponsors pull out of the series and even turn off a certain section of the fans.

Notably, a huge uproar was created when NASCAR's internal messages revealed defamatory remarks against longtime team owner Richard Childress. Following the same, Childress has been tapped to take the witness stand by 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports.