Steve Phelps revealed the truth about his ‘frustration’ to Richard Childress before his chats with Brian Herbst became public

The ongoing lawsuit between NASCAR and Cup Series teams has recently unsealed Steve Phelps' remarks about team owner Richard Childress. In the documents and texts made public, Phelps was seen taking shots at Childress during a meeting with team owners in 2023. Later, the governing body president revealed the truth about the remarks on Childress.

The meeting was a part of the charter extension contract negotiations. Phelps and Brian Herbst illustrated how new broadcast rights would be risky without unity. The NASCAR president was getting updates from Herbst about the meeting and trashed the six-time Cup Series championship-winning owner in the texts.

The incident dates back to when Richard Childress talked about the charter negotiations. Following that, the stock car racing president called out Childress and wrote (via Motorsport.com):

"Childress is an idiot. If they don't like the state of the sport, sell your charter and get out." "Did I mention Childress was an idiot?" "If he's that angry (and apparently he is) sign your charter extension and sell. He's not smart, is a dinosaur, and a malcontent. He's worth a couple hundred million dollars every dollar associated with NASCAR in some fashion. Total ass-clown." "Childress needs to be taken out back and flogged. He's a stupid redneck who owes his entire fortune to NASCAR."

Following the discovery of unsealed documents, Steve Phelps revealed the truth and told NASCAR journalist Matt Weaver:

"I have been told that Phelps had reached out to Childress before these were unsealed to let him know they were coming and that the messages were just a byproduct of his frustration during a particularly tense period of conversations about the economics of NASCAR competition."

Steve Phelps claimed he was frustrated over Richard Childress's comments on NASCAR handling the charter negotiations on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Ch. 90. However, the texts displayed the lack of professionalism behind the scenes, and this could weaken the governing body's position in the lawsuit against 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports.

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"I believe in the concept of NASCAR’s Charter system": Richard Childress defended the charter system amid the lawsuit

In October 2025, NASCAR analyst Bob Pockrass shared the Cup Series team owner Richard Childress' statement amid the ongoing antitrust lawsuit. Childress supported the charter system and expressed his desire to keep it from being dismantled.

The charter agreement provides a guaranteed entry to all the chartered teams in every Cup Series race. However, if the charter system is eliminated, it could create a sense of uncertainty for the stock car racing teams. Reflecting on that, Childress explained:

"As a team owner for many decades, I believe in the concept of NASCAR’s Charter system. Given the challenging business model and economics that Cup Series team owners face, charters are essential to creating enterprise value for teams. The charter system has helped create long-term equity value and has allowed for team equity value to grow." "Without Charters, the team ownership model is unsustainable. That is why I remain committed to finding a mutually agreeable solution that will provide permanent charters to all charter holders," he added.

Richard Childress Racing fields two full-time entries in the Cup Series with two-time Cup Series champion Kyle Busch in the #8 Chevy. Followed by his teammate Austin Dillon in the #3 Camaro ZL1. Additionally, Xfinity Series drivers Austin Hill and Jesse Love drive the #33 Chevy Camaro as part-time drivers on special occasions in the series.

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Edited by Karan Yadav