23XI, FRM vs. NASCAR trial: Commissioner Steve Phelps pressed on salary, track agreements during testimony

Commissioner Steve Phelps has officially taken the stand in the NASCAR antitrust trial, and he was asked to reveal his salary. Attorney Jeffrey Kessler, representing 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports, pressed Phelps on the sport’s track agreements during direct examination.

We have heard what Denny Hamlin makes, what Steve O’Donnell makes, how much the teams make, and so much more. Now, the NASCAR trial reveals what Commissioner Steve Phelps makes.

According to Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports, Phelps makes $2.5 million a year, up from his $1.6 million a year as president of the sport. He has the potential to earn up to $2.5 million in bonuses as part of his compensation package.

As far as the nearly $400 million that the France family has been paid in the last four years (2021-2024), Phelps had an answer for that, which takes a little pressure off of NASCAR. 75% of that money paid to the France family went to taxes. That leaves roughly $100 million not in taxes.

When Phelps was asked about the track agreements, he didn’t seem to recall or did not know when the exclusivity clauses began. There is an article from 2016 from when Pockrass was at ESPN that seems to pinpoint when these exclusivity agreements arose. Jeff Gluck of The Athletic says that the article was brought up in court. It was an agreement with Dover that raised a small red flag then.

An amazing moment for the 🐐 @bobpockrass as this article from 2016 was brought up. Of course BOB went through publicly filed documents at the time to be the only person to even realize this was a thing. https://t.co/CT8TZgempE https://t.co/YVMCPhlcey

— Jeff Gluck (@jeff_gluck) December 9, 2025

The NASCAR trial has entered Day 2 of Week 2. Richard Childress and Jim France are set to be called to the witness stand by the teams.

NASCAR trial: Expert witness weighs in on business model

The NASCAR trial on Monday was interesting for numbers people. A lot of monetary figures were put out there. Expert witness, economist Edward Snyder, claimed that payments to tracks were unnecessary. In his opinion, NASCAR payments to tracks are primarily to lock up exclusivity agreements.

If NASCAR didn’t make tracks exclusive to their stock car product, the tracks could host more races. The only way for sports venues to host one or two events a year and remain open is to receive some kind of compensation for being empty all year. So, that’s where NASCAR seemingly comes in. The payments totaled $311 million in 2024. $130 million was paid to non-NASCAR-owned tracks.

Snyder argued that NASCAR could heavily reduce those payments or do away with them entirely. That money could then be paid out to teams, theoretically. Snyder also found that NASCAR earned an average of $250 million between 2021 and 2024. Of course, likely included in that figure is the sale of the land where Auto Club Speedway used to be.

Another day of the NASCAR trial today. NASCAR and Jim France will have a chance to defend themselves, of course. We will see if this trial finishes on schedule by Friday, or if we are still focused on the courtroom this time next week.