“Time to clean house”: Fans outraged as NASCAR private texts revealed in lawsuit filings target small team owner like B.J. McLeod

The fallout around NASCAR’s antitrust battle intensified this week after newly-released private text messages appeared to single out small team co-owner B.J. McLeod, sparking frustration across the garage and anger among fans.

The messages, revealed in recent court filings, surfaced less than two weeks from the trial date between the governing body and 23XI Racing/Front Row Motorsports. It includes a 2022 conversation between Chief Media & Revenue Officer Brian Herbst and Senior Vice President of Competition Scott Miller, raising questions about how they view smaller teams.

The exchange between the executives was posted on X by reporter Kelly Crandall, where Miller said:

"I can’t figure out how we think we can create a technical situation for the small teams that will make them competitive. From the Charter meeting." "Spire (Motorsports) and Front Row (Motorsports) may be “helpable” but (Rick) Ware and McCloud are already on the Gov teat, they’ll just make more babies LOL," he added.

McLeod, who co-owns Live Fast Motorsports and remains one of the few part-time driver-owners in the field, has often spoken about the difficulty of maintaining a Cup presence with limited resources. For multiple seasons, his operation survived the charter market prices, rising developmental costs, and the volatility that comes with being a back-marker team in a manufacturer-driven sport.

Herbst responded in the thread with, “Spire is a tweener IMO,” agreeing with Miller’s general assessment. But fans didn't seem to like the treatment of small teams, especially figures like McLeod, who represent the working core of the garage. One fan wrote:

“I've seen enough, time to clean house at NASCAR. This is unacceptable.”

Fans were already angered by the “redneck” remark for Richard Childress this month, and others echoed the sentiments.

One sponsor echoed a broader concern across the fanbase about the shrinking competitive ladder.

While parts of the documents remained redacted, the context suggested internal frustration aimed at smaller operations during previous charter discussions. These texts can be presented in front of a Jury only if the Judge deems they are not inflammatory in nature.

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Denny Hamlin’s 2022 email highlights deeper concerns about NASCAR ownership: "Jim doesn’t really value the current owners of our sport"

NASCAR Chairman and CEO Jim France (L) and Denny Hamlin at Darlington, 2023. Source: Getty

As part of the documents released this week, an internal email from Denny Hamlin to several team executives was also made public. The message, sent in March 2022, went to Steve Newmark of RFK Racing, David Alpern of Joe Gibbs Racing, Jonathan Marshall of the Race Team Alliance, Marshall Carlson of Hendrick Motorsports, and his 23XI Racing partner, Curtis Polk.

Hamlin wrote the note shortly after a private meeting with Jim France, summarizing the conversation ahead of the teams’ scheduled sit-down with NASCAR. Two passages stood out immediately as Kelly Crandall posted them on X:

In one, Hamlin laid out his core concern:

“Tell me why I should invest and give back to this sport beyond my driving days. Tell me the avenue to re-coop the investment I make in this sport. Forget making a profit. Tell me how im going to get my investment back.”

Later in the email, Hamlin discussed how he believed ownership was being viewed at the highest level:

“He doesn’t want people that care about the bottom line. He wants people that are just happy to be part of the ‘club’.... Jim doesn’t really value the current owners of our sport and what we bring. He believes that NASCAR itself is the show.”

Mediation attempts stalled earlier this fall, and both sides have prepared for a full trial. Proceedings are set to begin on December 1, when a jury of six, plus three alternates, will be selected. The trial is expected to run for roughly ten days, placing NASCAR's long-standing financial structure under public examination.

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Edited by Hitesh Nigam