NASCAR commissioner Steve Phelps resigns after inflammatory texts revealed in trial

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — The fallout from NASCAR's federal antitrust trial continued into the new year as NASCAR Commissioner Steve Phelps on Tuesday announced his resignation after more than 20 years with the top racing series in the United States.

His resignation comes after last month's trial in which inflammatory texts Phelps sent during contentious revenue-sharing negotiations were revealed. Phelps will leave the company at the end of the month, ahead of the start of the first exhibition race of the season on Feb. 1.

He was named NASCAR’s first commissioner last season after a courting process for the same role by the PGA golf tour. The opportunity with the PGA was revealed during December testimony of the antitrust trial brought by two race teams against NASCAR and Phelps testified he pulled out of consideration for that role upon the NASCAR promotion from president.

The top executive at NASCAR was deeply bruised during the trial — and the discovery process leading into it — when communications he exchanged with his leadership team was exposed. In one exchange, Phelps called Hall of Fame team owner Richard Childress “a stupid redneck” who “needs to be taken out back and flogged.”

That led Bass Pro Shops founder Johnny Morris, an ardent supporter of both NASCAR and Richard Childress Racing, to write a damning letter demanding Phelps’ removal as commissioner.

After he concluded his testimony in the nine-day trial last month, Phelps left the stand with his jaw clenched, his face red, and he made no eye contact with NASCAR's owners as he briskly headed directly out of the courtroom. His fiancée trailed after him as he even refused to look in her direction.

NASCAR settled the lawsuit with 23XI Racing, owned by Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin, and Front Row Motorsports, owned by Bob Jenkins, the day after Morris’ letter went public and two days after Phelps' testimony.

“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 said in a statement. “Our sport is built on the passion of our fans, the dedication of our teams and partners, and the commitment of our wonderful employees.

“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 added he will seek “new pursuits in sports and other industries” and thanked colleagues, friends and fans that “played such an important and motivational role in my career.”

He also thanked the France family, the founders and owners of NASCAR, who hired him away from the NFL two decades ago and promoted him to a position that could have netted him $5 million annually with bonuses.

“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,” Phelps concluded.

Phelps is a native of Vermont, where as a child he became a fan of local racing. He graduated from both the University of Vermont, where he set the school record in the 800 meters, and Boston College, where he earned a masters in business administration.

NASCAR said that Phelps’ leadership transformed a stale schedule with new events, “bucket list fan experiences,” and reshaped its strategic vision. Phelps was also lauded for expanding NASCAR’s international footprint, securing long-term media rights and charter agreements, and building a leadership team that is focused on building the future of stock car racing with fan experience at its core.

“Steve will forever be remembered as one of NASCAR’s most impactful leaders,” said Jim France, the NASCAR Chairman and CEO. “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.”

Phelps also led NASCAR as it became the first sport to return to competition during the COVID-19 shutdown, as well as developing races inside the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and the downtown streets of Chicago.

“Steve leaves NASCAR with a transformative legacy of innovation and collaboration with an unrelenting growth mindset,” France added.

Lesa France Kennedy, the NASCAR executive vice chair, said “while his career may take him elsewhere, he’ll always have a place in our NASCAR family.”

NASCAR did not announce any additional leadership or personnel changes and said there are no immediate plans to replace him as commissioner or to seek outside leadership. His responsibilities will be delegated internally through NASCAR’s president — now Steve O’Donnell — and the executive leadership team.

O’Donnell moved into Phelps’ role as president upon Phelps’ promotion to commissioner. Although the two were mostly in favor of improving revenue-sharing for the teams in over two-plus years of bitter negotiations, the discovery process showed their growing frustration with NASCAR’s board of directors over its refusal to make the charters permanent.

Phelps appeared to be an advocate for more concessions for the race teams, but as the process dragged on, he ultimately fell in line with the France family and that’s when his communications became more pointed. He testified he felt the teams had received a fair deal on the new charter agreements.

But it was the attacks on Childress that drew the most attention and Phelps said in court he regretted his words, had apologized to Childress and explained he was venting out of frustration.

It wasn’t good enough for Morris, a longtime backer of Childress teams.

“We can’t help but wonder what would happen if Major League Baseball brought in a new commissioner and he or she trash-talked one of the true legends who built the game like Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Ted Williams, Mickey Mantle or Babe Ruth?” Morris wrote. “Such blatant disrespect would probably not sit well with the fans — such a commissioner most likely wouldn’t, or shouldn’t, keep his or her job for very long!”

AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

FILE - NASCAR president Steve Phelps announces the inductees to the 2025 NASCAR Hall of Fame class, Tuesday, May 21, 2024, in Charlotte, N.C. (AP Photo/Matt Kelley, File)

AKROTIRI, Cyprus (AP) — Britain is not at war, the government said Monday, despite saying it would allow the U.S. to use British bases during its war with Iran and after a Royal Air Force base in Cyprus was struck by an Iranian-made drone.

Sirens sounded again at RAF Akrotiri on Monday and British Typhoon and F-35 warplanes were scrambled. Cyprus government spokesman Constantinos Letymbiotis posted on X that two drones heading toward the British base had been intercepted.

More than two decades after Britain followed the United States into a devastating war in Iraq, it is trying to avoid being drawn into a new Middle East conflict with unpredictable consequences.

U.K. officials say an attack drone hit the runway at RAF Akrotiri, a British air force base in Cyprus, late Sunday. There were no injuries and “minimal” damage, but the strike brought the conflict onto European soil.

Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides identified it as a “Shahed-type” Iranian drone. It was not immediately clear whether it was launched from Iran or by a Tehran-backed militant group such as Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Akrotiri is the U.K.’s main air base for operations in the Middle East and in recent years has been used by British warplanes on missions against the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq and to strike Houthi targets in Yemen.

As tensions between the U.S. and Iran mounted, Britain last month deployed extra F-35 fighter jets to Akrotiri, along with radar, counter-drone systems and air defenses.

Britain retained the base, and another on Cyprus, after the eastern Mediterranean island gained independence from British colonial rule in 1960.

It was last attacked in 1986, when pro-Libya militants struck the base with mortars, rocket-propelled grenades and small arms, injuring three dependents of British personnel. The latest attack is believed to be the first attack on Cyprus from outside the country since Turkey’s invasion of the island in 1974.

Britain’s defense ministry said families of U.K. personnel who live on the base were being moved to nearby accommodation as a precaution.

Some residents of the nearby village of Akrotiri also opted to leave their homes and spend the night with relatives elsewhere.

Villager Mikaella Malta said she heard “strange noises” just before the drone explosion.

“We tried to figure out what was going on. We then picked up whatever we could from home. We were in a panic and we left,” she told the AP.

British officials have refused to say whether the U.K. supports the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran. They have said that Iran should not be able to have a nuclear weapon and called for an end to Iranian strikes and a diplomatic solution.

Britain did not take part in the strikes on Iran that began Saturday, and did not allow the U.S. to use U.K. bases in England or on the island of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean.

But on Sunday, Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced that he had agreed to let the U.S. use the bases for attacks on Iran’s missiles and their launch sites. He said the change came in response to Iranian attacks on U.K. interests and Britain’s allies in the Gulf, and is legal under international law.

Britain says its bases can’t be used for attacks on political and economic targets in Iran, and Starmer said the U.K. is “not joining the U.S. and Israeli offensive strikes.”

U.S. President Donald Trump told the Daily Telegraph on Monday he was “very disappointed in Keir," saying the prime minister "took far too long” to change his mind about the use of British bases.

Starmer said Britain would not be joining the U.S.-Israeli strikes, and Middle East Minister Hamish Falconer stressed that “the U.K. is not at war.”

The memory of Iraq remains raw for many in Britain. The decision by then-Prime Minister Tony Blair to join the U.S.-led invasion in 2003 remains one of the most contentious in modern British history.

The subsequent yearslong conflict killed 179 British troops, some 4,500 American personnel and many thousands of Iraqis.

“We all remember the mistakes of Iraq and we have learned those lessons," Starmer told lawmakers in the House of Commons on Monday. “Any U.K. actions must always have a lawful basis and a viable, thought-through plan.”

Critics say attempts to set firm limits on Britain’s involvement in Iran could be swept away by a fast-moving conflict.

“We are being drawn in, just as we were in Iraq, following the U.S. into an incredibly dangerous situation,” said John McDonnell, a lawmaker from the governing Labour Party.

Patrick Bury, senior associate professor in security at the University of Bath, said Britain is in an “incredibly difficult” position.

“We’ve had very little explanation for this war, really, from the U.S.,” he said. “The U.K. policy is always heavily on upholding international law. So they’re kind of looking at this going, ‘How does this fit with our own foreign policy?’ And I think that explains why they’ve held off as much as they could.

"And nevertheless, they get a direct request. What are you going to do, say no?”

Lawless reported from London.

A Fighter Jet prepares for landing at the U.K.'s RAF Akrotiri air base after it was hit by a drone strike early morning near Limassol, Cyprus, Monday, March, 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer issues a statement at 10 Downing Street, London, on the latest developments in the Middle East, Saturday Feb. 28, 2026. (Jonathan Brady/Pool via AP)

A dog sits at the main gate of the U.K.’s RAF Akrotiri air base after it was hit by a drone strike early morning near Limassol, Cyprus, Monday, March, 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)