Michael Jordan gave a rare interview at the Daytona 500 on Sunday where he reflected on his bitter courtroom lawsuit with NASCAR.
Eventually, the two parties settled their antitrust case in North Carolina after eight days last December, with NASCAR caving and granting all its teams the permanent charters they wanted. Jordan was the lead plaintiff in a suit accusing NASCAR of being a ‘monopolistic bully’.
But now, after reaching an agreement for the future of racing, the Hall of Famer Jordan is keen to usher in a positive new era – so much so, it seems, that he even spoke on live television to Fox, something he hardly ever does.
‘The thing is that both sides had been somewhat at a stalemate and we both needed to have conversations about change, about how we can grow this sport,’ Jordan, who owns the 23XI NASCAR team, explained.
‘Unfortunately we had to go through what we had to go through last summer. But I think coming out of that we have a much better appreciation for each other and I think it opens up conversations amongst each other to continue to grow the game.
‘Don’t forget about the fans. The fans make this game so enjoyable to watch. As much as we can listen, change, please the fans, please the teams and continually grow the sport, I think everybody is going to be ok.’
Michael Jordan spoke out about his NASCAR court case last December at the Daytona 500
Jordan pictured on the steps of the courtroom after he and NASCAR agreed a settlement
A charter is the equivalent of the franchise model used in other sports and in NASCAR it guarantees 36 teams a spot in every top-level Cup Series race and a fixed portion of the revenue stream.
The system was implemented in 2016 and teams have argued for over two years that the charters needed to be made permanent – they had been revokable by NASCAR – and the revenue sharing had to change.
Jordan testified early in the trial that as a new team owner to NASCAR – 23XI launched in 2021 – he felt he had the strength to challenge NASCAR.
Eight days of testimony went badly for NASCAR, which when it began to present its case seemed focused more on mitigating damages than it did on proving it did not violate antitrust laws.
Jordan, speaking on Sunday, added that the Daytona 500 reminds him of his childhood and watching the race on television when he was younger.
‘It was a group event – the family would sit there and watch the race,’ he said. ‘Four hours, five hours, six hours, it doesn’t matter, we were going to watch the race.
‘For me to have an opportunity to continue to come back and see a part of this kind of reminds me of being back home in North Carolina, connect with family and watch the race.’
After a tricky 2025 on the track for 23XI, Jordan is optimistic that better days are ahead in 2026.
Jordan and his 23XI racing team were awarded a charter as part of the new NASCAR deal
‘We got a couple of young kids that are learning. We’ve got a couple of veterans that are going to be up front,’ Jordan said.
I think we’ve got a good team, good leaders and hopefully one of the four – I’ll take any one of the four – wins.
‘I want to see us at the end, all four cars, which is very difficult, especially at a race like this. You just need to avoid the big one. But if we can put ourselves in a good position, that’s all I’ll ever ask for.’
