Michael Jordan: 'Someone had to step forward and challenge' NASCAR - ESPN

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Retired NBA great Michael Jordan took the stand at the landmark NASCAR antitrust case and testified Friday that he has been a fan of the stock car series since he was a child but felt he had little choice but to sue to force changes in a business model he sees shortchanging teams and drivers risking their lives to keep the sport going.

Jordan testified before a packed courtroom for an hour. His celebrity drew quips from the judge and even a defense attorney as he outlined why the team he co-owns, 23XI, had joined Front Row Motorsports in going to court against the top auto racing series in the United States.

«Someone had to step forward and challenge the entity,» the soft-spoken Jordan told the jury. «I sat in those meetings with longtime owners who were brow-beaten for so many years trying to make change. I was a new person, I wasn't afraid. I felt I could challenge NASCAR as a whole. I felt as far as the sport, it needed to be looked at from a different view.»

Jordan's highy anticipated appearance followed dramatic testimony from Heather Gibbs, the daughter-in-law of race team owner Joe Gibbs, about the chaotic six-hour period in which teams had to sign an extension or forfeit the charters that guarantee revenue week to week throughout NASCAR's 38-race season.

«The document was something in business you would never sign,» said Heather Gibbs, who is also a licensed real estate agent. «It was like a gun to your head: if you don't sign, you have nothing.»

Charters are the equivalent of the franchise model used in other sports and in NASCAR it guarantees every chartered car a spot in every race, plus a defined payout from the series. The system was created in 2016, and during the two-plus years of bitter