The antitrust lawsuit surely affected many relationships within NASCAR, including the bond between Larry McReynolds and Denny Hamlin. The veteran FOX broadcaster and former crew chief has now spoken about it. 

In an interaction with Motorsport.com, McReynolds admitted that while his relationship with the 23XI co-owner and JGR driver has improved, the two are far from close after their public disagreement over the case. He also noted that the case drew people’s attention away from other developments that were taking place in the racing series. 

“Yeah, we are, but I still wouldn’t expect you to walk into a restaurant and see us having dinner together. We don’t have that kind of relationship, and I’m not sure we did before this anyway. I still say the lawsuit was not a good look. I feel like it was taking away from what we should have been talking about," McReynolds said.

"The trial last December prevented us from talking about Connor Zilisch’s rookie season or the new Chevrolet body, everything related to the 2026 season. We spent every day talking about the trial. But with that said, and I don’t want to come across as backpedaling or like I’m talking out of both sides of my mouth, but I do feel like the sport came out of it strong as a result.” 

However, he also acknowledges that the lawsuit had a positive result. In the interaction, he mentioned being grateful that the case was settled out of court, as he feels that the jury, which likely would have no prior NASCAR experience, would suddenly become influential enough to shape its future. 

McReynolds and Hamlin had a very public feud during the antitrust case between NASCAR vs 23XI Racing and FRM. The FOX broadcaster argued that these two teams were attempting to change how NASCAR had functioned for the last seven decades, while also taking a dig at them by comparing them with the other teams that had signed the infamous charter agreement. 

Hamlin responded to that with a separate tweet, justifying his stance with a necessity for standing up to what was wrong. While the lawsuit was eventually settled with teams getting permanent charters, Hamlin later demanded an apology via a comment on X.

What drove 23XI to challenge NASCAR, according to Michael Jordan

In an interview with CBS News in March, Michael Jordan admitted that the lawsuit was not just about fixing NASCAR’s business model, but he also pointed out the unfairness in compensation for those running the business versus those who are putting on the show. 

“When I got into the sport, obviously, a lot — as I learned, there were a lot of things that I wasn't really happy about. This sport was not set up for success long-term for the individuals that's involved in the sport. They (NASCAR execs) were making a good living. And the people who were putting on the show were not getting the type of recognition.”

In 2022, the negotiations for new charter agreements for the 2025 season had begun. The charter at that time granted a larger share of media rights revenue to the teams. However, the tracks and the sanctioning body still enjoyed a majority share of revenue. 

Teams alleged that costs increased with the introduction of the Next Gen car in 2022, as they were forced to use parts from NASCAR-approved, single-source suppliers instead of in-house parts. 

And as we know it, NASCAR’s ‘take it or leave it’ offer in September 2024 finally pushed 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports over the edge, who finally went for the lawsuit.

Read more at RFK Racing Digest! 

Written by

Aaradhya Singh

Edited by

Suyashdeep Sason