"CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Michael Jordan and Joe Gibbs' daughter-in-law were expected to testify Friday on the fifth day of the federal antitrust case the Basketball Hall of Famer filed against NASCAR over claims the series has acted as monopolistic bullies. Heather Gibbs, the chief operating officer of Joe Gibbs Racing, wrote an impassioned letter to NASCAR chairman Jim France in May 2024 imploring him to make charters permanent for the sake of strengthening the family business."
""We've put 32 years into investing and building a dream, building careers, building families, and building NASCAR. If the financial model made sense, we would not have had to work with an outside investor," she wrote. "If our teams were financially healthy and did not solely rely on sponsorship, I would sleep better at night, not worrying about when the torch is passed on.""
Michael Jordan's 23XI and Front Row Motorsports filed a federal antitrust suit claiming NASCAR acted monopolistically by refusing to make charters permanent. Charters guarantee chartered cars spots in all 38 races and a defined payout; teams sought permanence after the system's 2016 creation. NASCAR offered a 112-page renewable extension with a six-hour signing deadline in September 2024, and only 23XI and Front Row declined and sued. Discovery revealed a May 2024 letter from Heather Gibbs pleading that permanent charters would protect a family business reliant on sponsorship and long-term investment in NASCAR.
Read at ABC11 Raleigh-Durham
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