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The basketball icon, introducing himself formally in a federal courtroom on Friday, stated that his drive to win and novelty within the sport motivated his push for 23XI Racing to confront Nascar over alleged violations of competition laws.

Team Investment and a Will to Win

Jordan shared operational insights of his racing venture, revealing he put in $40 million of his personal wealth into the Nascar Cup series team co-founded with partner Polk and longtime driver Denny Hamlin.

“It fell to someone to act,” Jordan stated in the Charlotte courtroom. “I was a new person, I wasn’t afraid. I believed I could take on Nascar as a whole. From my perspective, the sport it needed to be looked at from a different view.”

The Core Dispute: Franchise System and Contract Pressure

At issue is the end of a 2016 agreement where Nascar granted each team a “charter”. The concept is similar to other professional sports with independent franchises, such as the NBA’s Hornets or the Carolina Panthers. This deal was due to end in 2024 when Nascar demanded teams renew their charters.

Jordan was on the witness stand for an hour and exited the courthouse to a media frenzy, with onlookers and reporters clamoring for a view or a picture of the global icon.

Leading the Legal Charge

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 keep two hands on the wheel.

For Jordan and and a fellow team representative, who testified before Jordan, are events from September 2024. She recounted a hectic and tense period where the racing circuit informed teams they had to sign a charter agreement extension. This agreement spanned over a hundred pages detailing team compensation and a guaranteed entry in Nascar-sponsored races.

Choosing Litigation

Jordan said that his team and its ally decided their sole viable path was to decline to sign that 112-page package and take the issue to court. The other 13 organizations signed the agreement.

Jordan and co-owner Denny Hamlin reached out to Nascar about potential amendments or extension options. Nascar wasn’t talking, according to his testimony.

The Ultimate Motivation: Victory

But in the end, the resistance against what he saw as a financially unsustainable model was mostly about the familiar goal for Jordan: Winning.

“Hamlin persuaded me getting a third driver improved our chances to win,” he testified, sharing that he purchased another franchise last year for $28 million amid the legal dispute. “So I took the plunge.”

Heather Gibbs’ Testimony

Heather Gibbs detailed her push for indefinite franchises, which she said a written letter to Nascar. She testified the timing of the signature deadline didn’t sit well.

According to her, Joe Gibbs first attempted to call and talk Nascar out of forcing signatures, but CEO Jim France declined the request.

“Don’t do this to us,” Gibbs recounted was the message to Nascar’s executives. The response was, “If I wake up and I have 20 charters, I have 20. If I have 30, that’s the number.”