NASCAR commissioner Steve Phelps resigned from his post on Monday, January 6. Many believe the move has to do with his disastrous witness testimony during the antitrust trial.
Phelps used to work with the NFL as Vice President of Corporate Marketing before launching his NASCAR tenure in 2005. He entered the sport in a similar role, but was soon promoted to Chief Marketing Officer in 2006. Seven years later, he transitioned to Executive Vice President.
The Burlington, Vermont native was named the sport’s fifth-ever president in 2018, after Brent Dewar left the post that year. Under his new role, Phelps oversaw the introduction of the Next Gen package and rang in the $7.7 billion media rights deal in 2023. He was also responsible for NASCAR’s first-ever points-paying race in Mexico City, along with the In-Season challenge, which was a mid-season bracket-style tournament that awarded $1 million to the victor.
Last year, Steve Phelps inherited the newly-created Commissioner role, with Steve O’Donnell taking over as president. The post allowed him to have a bigger say in the sport’s direction, which included international expansion and NASCAR’s ownership of IMSA.
However, the antitrust trial proved too scandalous for his ambitions. The trial’s discovery process uncovered inflammatory texts by Phelps, where he called Richard Childress a ‘stupid redneck who owes his entire fortune to NASCAR’ and that he ‘needs to be taken out back and flogged’. The exchange happened during a contentious charter negotiation in 2023.
As the sport reached a landmark settlement to resolve the matter, concerns about Phelps’ tenure remained, as many believed the sanctioning body was in for an overhaul. When the 63-year-old ultimately resigned on Monday, he had this to say about his journey thus far(via Sports Business Journal):
“As a team, we have strengthened this sport and energized our entire NASCAR community. We’ve firmly positioned NASCAR as America’s premier motorsport, building a brand with real momentum and creating a future full of possibility. Our teamwork has produced real impact here at home in the United States and around the world. I am incredibly proud of where we stand today, and even more excited about where you will take our sport as it continues to grow.
Notably, Steve Phelps was one of the few executives who’d argued for permanent charters, but Jim France refused to give in until the antitrust trial reached a point of no return.
NASCAR owner Jim France reacts to Steve Phelps’ resignation
Jim France praised Steve Phelps as ‘one of NASCAR’s most impactful leaders’. The 81-year-old shared a rather optimistic take on the matter.
“For decades he has worked tirelessly to thrill fans, support teams and execute a vision for the sport that has treated us all to some of the greatest moments in our nearly 80-year history,” he said, “It’s been an honor to work alongside him in achieving the impossible like being the first sport to return during COVID, or in delivering the unimaginable by launching new races in the L.A. Memorial Coliseum and NASCAR’s first-ever street race in downtown Chicago.”
Steve Phelps’s resignation has drawn mixed emotions within the sport. While many believe the move was inevitable, others claim that he was made a scapegoat to deal with the antitrust trial’s backlash.
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