NASCAR commissioner Steve Phelps resigns from position after damaging revelations in lawsuit

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The commissioner of NASCAR is stepping down.

The premier stock car racing sanctioning body announced Tuesday that Steve Phelps, who was named commissioner in March 2025, has “made the personal decision” to leave the company. Phelps will transition out of the company by the end of January.

Phelps, who joined NASCAR in 2005, served as president before his appointment as NASCAR’s first commissioner.

“As a lifelong race fan, it gives me immense pride to have served as NASCAR’s first commissioner and to lead our great sport through so many incredible challenges, opportunities and firsts over my 20 years,” Phelps wrote in a statement. “It has been an honor to help synthesize the enthusiasm of long-standing NASCAR stakeholders with that of new entrants to our ecosystem, such as media partners, auto manufacturers, track operators and incredible racing talent.”

He continued: “As I embark on new pursuits in sports and other industries, I want to thank the many colleagues, friends and especially the fans that have played such an important and motivational role in my career. Words cannot fully convey the deep appreciation I have for this life-changing experience, for the trust of the France family, and for having a place in NASCAR’s amazing history.”

NASCAR has not announced any additional leadership or personnel changes. There are no immediate plans to replace the commissioner role, either, NASCAR wrote in a statement, adding that Phelps’s responsibilities will be delegated internally through NASCAR president Steve O’Donnell and executive leadership team.

Phelps made an annual salary of $2.5 million in 2025, with another $2.5 million in bonuses.

Childress, lawsuit text messages did Phelps in

The news comes about a month after the conclusion of the trial that pitted NASCAR against two of its Cup Series teams, including Michael Jordan-owned 23XI Racing. In that trial, which ended in a settlement in mid-December, attorneys revealed to the jury several internal messages among NASCAR officials — and a few particularly damaging ones were ones sent by Phelps.

The one that quite possibly tipped the scales were the texts Phelps exchanged about team owner Richard Childress with O’Donnell and NASCAR executive vice president Brian Herbst. Phelps was reacting to an appearance Childress made on television where he criticized the sport just as negotiations of NASCAR’s media deal were heating up. He called the Hall of Fame team owner a “stupid redneck” and a “total assclown” who “needs to be taken out back and flogged.”

Childress, the six-time Cup championship owner who ran the No. 3 car Dale Earnhardt brought to prominence in the 90s, was gobsmacked at the revelation, which came in late November when the documents were filed in the U.S. District Court’s public database. Richard Childress Racing released a statement at the time saying that “these comments reflect the way certain NASCAR executives have historically viewed and treated many team owners,” adding that RCR and Childress are “equally disappointed for the NASCAR fans, with whom Mr. Childress closely identifies given his humble and hard-working background.”

Phelps said at the trial that he regretted sending those messages out of anger and that he’d since spoken and apologized to Childress. That didn’t stop many from calling for the removal of Phelps, including Johnny Morris, owner of Bass Pro Shops who wrote a handwritten open letter to NASCAR after the public fallout.

Other damaging revelations surfaced about Phelps, too, however. During negotiations ahead of the 2025 charter agreement — which essentially was going to set the business model for NASCAR — Phelps appeared to convey in several messages that the France family and other board members didn’t have the vision to push the sport forward economically.

He also wasn’t coy about his real feelings about another stock car racing series cropping up called Superstar Racing Experience. Publicly, he was applauding the series; privately, Phelps grew concerned that SRX was looking too much like NASCAR — and thus competing in a market that, plaintiff teams alleged, NASCAR had unlawful control over as a monopsony — and went as far to say that NASCAR should “knife that trash series.”

Phelps’s legacy goes beyond lawsuit

The timing and potential reasoning for his departure aside, Phelps’s tenure as NASCAR’s commissioner was undeniably impactful. Drivers and teams across the garage said so over and over again during Phelps’s tenure.

Even on Tuesday, NASCAR officials said so. CEO Jim France said Phelps will “forever be remembered as one of NASCAR’s most impactful leaders.”

“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,” France wrote in a statement. “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 LA Memorial Coliseum and NASCAR’s first-ever street race in downtown Chicago. Steve leaves NASCAR with a transformative legacy of innovation and collaboration with an unrelenting growth mindset.”

Phelps, in addition to the accomplishments listed by France, also spearheaded the integration of NASCAR’s landmark merger with International Speedway Corporation; he was the lead negotiator on the media rights deal that maintained linear TV relationships while also introducing the sport to streaming; and he launched the Next Gen race car in 2022 — the seventh new vehicle in the sport’s history that has delivered unprecedented parity and competition to the sport.

In April, reports said that Phelps was linked to the PGA Tour CEO opening, and in December Phelps confirmed that was true. Phelps opted to return to NASCAR, though, he said.

“Over his two decades at NASCAR, Steve has balanced strong leadership and a consistent pursuit of excellence with a sincere commitment to our fans,” NASCAR executive vice chair Lesa France Kennedy wrote in a statement. “He has helped to bring fans some of the best, most unforgettable moments in our history, and most importantly, he’s laid an incredible foundation for continued growth and success for the entire sport.

“A true consensus builder and passionate advocate, we thank Steve for bringing his intelligence, integrity and love of racing to this sport each and every day. While his career may take him elsewhere, he’ll always have a place in our NASCAR family.”