NASCAR president Steve Phelps skirts comment on charter talks as Michael Jordan's 23XI stands firm

Ahead of the opening race of the 2024 playoffs, Steve Phelps has evaded questions on the 23XI Racing team with regards to the charter deal. Co-owned by Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin, 23XI Racing decided to not comply with NASCAR's latest charter agreement deadline.

NASCAR and the teams have been in the midst of charter negotiations for months, until recently when both parties agreed to terms over a deal from 2025 to 2031. However, two teams, 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports, are in a stand-off for refusing to sign the charter deal. Additionally, 23XI Racing claimed that it didn't have a fair chance to bargain, thus, not meeting the given deadline.

As per the renowned journalist Bob Pockrass, NASCAR president Phelps recently avoided commenting on the Toyota teams.

"Steve Phelps declined comment here in garage on charter deal," Pockrass wrote on X.

Here's the official statement that the NBA legend Jordan-owned team posted on X:

"23XI decided to not meet a NASCAR-imposed deadline last night to sign charter agreements for its two cars for 2025-2031. 23XI’s position, as stated in a letter to NASCAR, is that we did not have an opportunity to fairly bargain for a new charter contract."

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A few reactions by the members of Michael Jordan's 23XI Racing team

In a recent episode of Actions Detrimental, Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin discussed 23XI Racing's stance on the ongoing charter negotiations. He said:

"NASCAR's got their stance, and the teams have theirs. We'll just see where this goes over the next few weeks. It's never been great, you know I think personally from 23XI's perspective, we would take a decent deal, not even a fair deal, just a decent one, and from our standpoint, its got a ways to go." [53:13]

On the other hand, #23 driver Bubba Wallace shared his thoughts and concerns over the progress of the team's charter negotiations. He said (via Frontstretch):

"It's frustrating to see where we're at, because that impacts my life and livelihood and everything moving forward for my future."

Meanwhile, NASCAR is ready for the first race of the playoffs at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Out of 23XI Racing's shed, #45 Tyler Reddick, who recently won the regular season championship will be eyeing his maiden Cup Series title. The #23 Wallace fought hard until the last regular season race for a chance to qualify for the championship, but couldn't.