NASCAR President flatters "extraordinary" feat of his sworn lawsuit rival, says he 'expects more of the same'

NASCAR President Steve Phelps praised his charter lawsuit arch nemesis 23XI Racing's 'extraordinary' Cup Series stature. Phelps pointed out Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin's co-owned outfit's performance surge and expressed that he expects more of such portrayals.

23XI Racing is among the newly formed Cup Series teams that debuted in the 2021 Daytona 500. Bubba Wallace was their first driver and has been running with the Huntersville-based outfit since. The team expanded to a two-car operation in 2022, bringing on board Kurt Busch, John Hunter Nemechek, Ty Gibbs, and Daniel Hemric to take turns in the #23 and #45 Toyota Camry.

They signed Tyler Reddick the previous year and finalized their full-time roster with Bubba Wallace as the second driver. Both drivers made the playoffs with Reddick outdueling Wallace for sixth place in the 2023 season standings.

Enter 2024. Reddick claimed his and 23XI Racing's first regular-season title and Championship 4 ticket. Even though the eight-time Cup Series race winner couldn't etch the title, he wrapped the season with a career-best P4 in the standings.

That said, amid the fierce lawsuit against 23XI, Steve Phelps expressed his opinions about the 2024 Cup Series Championship Race. He praised 23XI Racing for being among NASCAR's veteran and winningest teams -Team Penske and Hendrick Motorsports. The president added that he expects to see such domination in the future too.

"In Final 4 you had three different organizations. And I actually think it's great. In that Final 4 you had a newcomer team, 23XI. This is its fourth season, its third season with two cars. I think that extraordinary and I expect more of the same," Phelps said via EPARTRADE (33:29).

23XI Racing recently announced that they have signed Riley Hersbt for a full-time ride in the 2025 Cup Series season. The former Stewart-Haas Racing Xfinity Series driver will pilot the #35 Toyota.

NASCAR Insider shows the possible way 23XI Racing and FRM can get relieved of charter drama

23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports, the two charter holdouts who sued NASCAR for monopolistic practices agreed to purchase one charter each from Stewart-Haas Racing. However, NASCAR froze the charter in the aftermath of the lawsuit.

As the case developed with new revelations, the community expressed concern about the stalled charter transfer as the court denied a preliminary injunction to the teams that would've permitted them to run as chartered organizations in the upcoming season.

Bob Pockrass mentioned that both transfers are still To Be Decided (TBD). The insider highlighted the 'only ways' 23XI and FRM can run as chartered teams in 2025 as the governing body has already expressed disapproval about giving 'charter' status to the holdouts.

"NASCAR says charter agreement is off the table for 23XI and Front Row. So only ways, unless NASCAR changes its mind and re-offers their two charters, for them to be charter teams would be for teams to win injunction or teams sign charter agreements for transferred charters," Pockrass wrote.

23XI and FRM have expanded to a three-car team for the 2025 season. However, if the charter case favors NASCAR, will the teams be able to run its expanded operations?