NASCAR, which is already tangled in the middle of a big antitrust lawsuit, now faces fresh heat from leaked private chats from the NASCAR leadership. These leaked messages paint a rough picture of the real internal side of the leadership and the sport that clashes with the fan-friendly image NASCAR tries to keep. As the December 1 trial looms, this timing couldn’t be worse for the organization.

Fans see these ugly words as a sign of deeper issues like fading trust, especially at a time when NASCAR needs unity to grow amid its dipping viewership. The backlash has already been building, and now, one set of messages could stand out as the breaking point.

Buried in court files for the antitrust case, texts from 2022 show NASCAR’s then-president, Steve Phelps, and COO, Steve O’Donnell, lashin

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