Technically the position is new. But it was only created to give Steve a better title for what he had been doing. Steve was still doing what he had always been doing. They just change/created the title to better reflect it. So saying “the position was relatively new” doesn’t really mean much
The point is filling Steve’s responsibilities and day to day tasks and role. Which never really changed from his previous title to this one. It was just a better way of describing it.
I’d love for this but I doubt he’d do it even if they offered. Now JR, maybe, and would be great for the sport. I don’t see them ever having that much foresight tho.
I was about to say “Well Jr has JRM and Dirty Mo” then I realized- he’s not the only one running those. I would love Jr to come in and run it. He’s very level headed almost all of the time.
I think the only possible conflict of interest would be the fact that he owns a team, but like Penske owns Indycar and runs a team so it shouldn’t be a big issue. He also works in the media, worked as an announcer and with/for the TV partners, worked as a driver and a team owner, and also worked with iRacing on the video game side of things. He has experience in every aspect of the sport and comes from a family with a strong legacy in the series as well. I genuinely can’t think of anyone more qualified. Not to mention that he’s loved by a majority of the fanbase and seems to actually listen to what they have to say.
A lot of us are bothered by his firing because the actual pieces of shit in the France family face absolutely zero repercussion who dragging everyone into this mess while the one guy who was trying to broker permanent charters in NASCAR management gets sent out the door over some texts that shouldn’t have even been released if Jim France wasn’t so god damn hard headed that he would cost the sport a ton of money to lose a pretty clear cut case.
Considering poor Willy B needed help holding up the Xfinity trophy a few years back, absolutely. The coolest one was Cole Pearn and MTJ holding it together. That would actually be a really cool tradition if the CC always joined in.
You can't "push a family business forward" if the owning family doesn't want to be pushed. The Frances feel like they've "learned their lesson." It's going to go back to being a family run "benevolent dictatorship."
Just no. Why? Because he’s exactly the man we need for the job. But he’s that man because he’s NOT in the role. Right now, he’s able to look at the sport as a whole, offer suggestions for improvements, offer his take or advice or even just his opinion. With zero stress, expectation, or responsibility attached to it. We can’t lose that. Junior is the clear minded, dedicated, super fan and advocate of the sport that we need. And he’s in the rare position of being respected enough to actual be listened to. He’s fine right where he’s at.
Once you start putting a title on things and making it an official role, all that changes.
Everyone needs to chill with Junior doing more. The dude is right where he needs to be. JRM is successful. Dirty Mo as a whole seems to be doing well. Junior seems to be having a great time with his own podcast, and I personally really enjoy it.
Junior and Kelley have a really good thing going. Everyone at JRM knows their job, and they do it well. Let’s just let this one live and be. Junior doesn’t need to be in Cup for him or the sport to thrive. Would I like to see it someday down the road? Sure. Maybe once the current legacy guys start pulling back, Junior can step in. But let’s just let JRM do their thing in the OAPS. And let’s let Junior do his own thing.
Not everything needs to grow until it’s unsustainable.
I don’t even think Jr is the right person for it. But you are in the right family. Dale is most valuable to the sport in the exact role he’s in. Kelley would be great at it.
I’d agree with that 100% I know Kelley is really who runs JRM day to day. But JR has the knowledge, experience, and now wisdom to really understand the business AND the fan perspective. I think that’s why him and Kelley have been so successful. Dale runs the business from the perspective and with the passion of a fan. Because he is one.
We also don't need someone with Rick Hendrick in his ear and a vested interest into making things better for his own team.
What was people's #1 issue with Denny and the lawsuit? Aside from it being Denny Hamlin; that he didn't care about the health of the sport he just wanted to line his own pockets.
But change Denny for Junior, and suddenly he's the man destined to lead us back to the promised land.
Mark Martin would be good in that role, or Kelley Earnhardt would be great in those roles. Honestly if they both worked together as a team as a commissioner duo I think the sport could go far.
The fans will never realize what they lost by pushing for Steve’s head. I think the sport would be in a much worst spot than it was if not for his influence.
Let’s be real for a minute, though: It’s pretty clear from the lawsuit that 90% of the stubbornness that dragged the sport into a lawsuit was directly at the feet of Jim France.
It’s entirely plausible that as non-optimal or “corporate manager” as he may have been, Phelps was a useful buffer that helped things happen that J. France would’ve just shot down. That can be a true statement without bowing before Phelps in worship.
I have. And in those threads I even said I wasn't going to let those texts affect how I was looking at the trial itself because it wasn't anything I haven't said about NASCAR, it's fans or Richard Childress.
But I have changed my mind since those threads, and it's one thing for an underling or low level employee to say that about the boss or the customer. It is another for the boss to say that.
So Phelps' unprofessional emails exhibit stability and vision?
An excellent point. Many of us rightly got a huge kick out of Tommy Morris’ letter in re: those emails the day before the NASCAR vs. 23XI/FRM settlement was announced, but IMO his observations were spot-on. With the things Phelps was saying behind the scenes all by itself — about an owner who wasn’t even a party to the lawsuit — the well, for lack of a better term, was well and truly poisoned. With that cat out of the bag, there was no way NASCAR would’ve been trusted by the owners as a whole — to the extent they even were in the first place — to be acting in good faith about anything related to the sport. Steve Phelps pretty much had to be shown the door at that point, IMO.
Mark was my favorite driver, but he has a few too many “old man yells at clouds” takes. As much as some people hate to admit, NASCAR has to be flexible or the people paying the bills (sponsors, tv networks, etc.)are gonna stop paying the bills.
Mark was my favorite driver, but he has a few too many “old man yells at clouds” takes
Does he though? He's been pretty focused on one topic, that being the points system. He made a few comments about what he thought during the trial, but aside from that it's been pretty much solely about the points system. And his opinion aligns with a very large portion of the fan base.
Let's face it... NASCAR doesn't care what us fans want. In fact, it almost seems like half the decisions they make are purposely made to spite us. Mark is a respected member of the NASCAR community and having him advocate for fans and the current drivers is a good thing.
Not everyone who has a strong opinion and voices it is an old man yelling at the clouds.
The position is kinda new, so it’s not too much of a loss. That said, I support the funniest, most-chaotic option possible.
Which would be Tony Stewart.
Would it happen? No. Would it be funny and chaotic? Yes.
Technically the position is new. But it was only created to give Steve a better title for what he had been doing. Steve was still doing what he had always been doing. They just change/created the title to better reflect it. So saying “the position was relatively new” doesn’t really mean much
The point is filling Steve’s responsibilities and day to day tasks and role. Which never really changed from his previous title to this one. It was just a better way of describing it.
Cannonball Baker was in name, the first commissioner of NASCAR when it was founded.
Cool. Good for him.
Tony's got a wife, kid, and drag team to deal with. I'm sure he doesnt wanna run an entire sport.
Zero chance Stewart comes back to NASCAR for any reason,
Sounds like hes gonna run a truck race tho
Yeah I wouldnt be so quick to say he never ever wants to do anything nascar related again because it sounds like he might be back this year
Yeah in some story / interview i read he said he was grateful for the time and fun he had in the sport but wanted something different
He was supposed to have a one-off in 2021Xfinity but it was cancelled because of covid i think.
And a sprint team with Gio
You mean Rico?
Yeah 😂 I don't follow sprint cars lol
I figured but I was a little afraid I missed some news
Yeah, that’s kinda why I figured it’ll never happen.
Dude’s enjoying his retirement.
He can handle it
I’d love for this but I doubt he’d do it even if they offered. Now JR, maybe, and would be great for the sport. I don’t see them ever having that much foresight tho.
I was about to say “Well Jr has JRM and Dirty Mo” then I realized- he’s not the only one running those. I would love Jr to come in and run it. He’s very level headed almost all of the time.
I think the only possible conflict of interest would be the fact that he owns a team, but like Penske owns Indycar and runs a team so it shouldn’t be a big issue. He also works in the media, worked as an announcer and with/for the TV partners, worked as a driver and a team owner, and also worked with iRacing on the video game side of things. He has experience in every aspect of the sport and comes from a family with a strong legacy in the series as well. I genuinely can’t think of anyone more qualified. Not to mention that he’s loved by a majority of the fanbase and seems to actually listen to what they have to say.
F you for putting the idea of commissioner Smoke in my brain. Now I'll be disappointed when it doesn't happen
Robby Gordon
That would be the absolute quickest way to run NASCAR into the ground. That guy is a turd of a human being. He abandons everything.
Copium
“Ben Kennedy, come on down!!!”
Ask not what NASCAR can do for you, but what you can do for NASCAR
They need to put him in charge, and we have to hope that he's not just like them in reality
He does seem to be more like the new guard than the old guard
He seems to be the only one who understands how to actually balance trying to attract new fans while appealing to your current ones
Steve Phelps friends bothered by his firing. Shocker
I mean, if Jim would have let Steve do the charter deal himself, the lawsuit would never have happened
A lot of us are bothered by his firing because the actual pieces of shit in the France family face absolutely zero repercussion who dragging everyone into this mess while the one guy who was trying to broker permanent charters in NASCAR management gets sent out the door over some texts that shouldn’t have even been released if Jim France wasn’t so god damn hard headed that he would cost the sport a ton of money to lose a pretty clear cut case.
Did something change, I thought they weren’t going to fill the position?
It's literally at the bottom of the article on the NASCAR website. I just don't think many people read past the headline.
https://www.nascar.com/news-media/2026/01/06/steve-phelps-to-step-away-from-nascar
Anything short of Dale Jr running it is a miss
"Timing of this announcement could not be any worse."
- R. Childress (currently laughing his ass off at NASCAR)
Never forget the contributions Steve Phelps made to NASCAR. Most recently, helping Larson hold up his big boy Cup trophy:
https://preview.redd.it/9av8ospdxqcg1.png?width=770&format=png&auto=webp&s=337f993c2a3c5e9e53388db7141811431c19ea26
They really need to just hold it like the Stanley cup but it's missing a lip on the bottom to do so.
https://preview.redd.it/5ezxb5tpjrcg1.jpeg?width=1440&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b61f801f718762eae475af97eadaa4ab5f154e36
Kyle Busch and Chase Elliott both did it. Seems to be a preference or strength thing.
Larson was like:
https://preview.redd.it/czjqc7u7krcg1.jpeg?width=274&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1cb692ca20b03d74516f37f198108c435648edb4
I'm betting on strength.
Considering poor Willy B needed help holding up the Xfinity trophy a few years back, absolutely. The coolest one was Cole Pearn and MTJ holding it together. That would actually be a really cool tradition if the CC always joined in.
https://preview.redd.it/dhac0z970scg1.jpeg?width=1296&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=58de130efc335718b3677d5e711af38739f727bd
Phelps has a clear future as the captain on a NCIS show of some sort.
You can't "push a family business forward" if the owning family doesn't want to be pushed. The Frances feel like they've "learned their lesson." It's going to go back to being a family run "benevolent dictatorship."
"family business" - A real mom 'n pop show they got there
This position didn't exist a year ago, it doesn't need to exist in the future.
Every position at NASCAR is just "France Family Ball Gurgler" by a different name anyway.
Just what I needed to read as I sit down for lunch.
https://i.redd.it/730nm86rercg1.gif
To everyone saying Junior should do it. No.
Just no. Why? Because he’s exactly the man we need for the job. But he’s that man because he’s NOT in the role. Right now, he’s able to look at the sport as a whole, offer suggestions for improvements, offer his take or advice or even just his opinion. With zero stress, expectation, or responsibility attached to it. We can’t lose that. Junior is the clear minded, dedicated, super fan and advocate of the sport that we need. And he’s in the rare position of being respected enough to actual be listened to. He’s fine right where he’s at.
Once you start putting a title on things and making it an official role, all that changes.
Everyone needs to chill with Junior doing more. The dude is right where he needs to be. JRM is successful. Dirty Mo as a whole seems to be doing well. Junior seems to be having a great time with his own podcast, and I personally really enjoy it.
Junior and Kelley have a really good thing going. Everyone at JRM knows their job, and they do it well. Let’s just let this one live and be. Junior doesn’t need to be in Cup for him or the sport to thrive. Would I like to see it someday down the road? Sure. Maybe once the current legacy guys start pulling back, Junior can step in. But let’s just let JRM do their thing in the OAPS. And let’s let Junior do his own thing.
Not everything needs to grow until it’s unsustainable.
I don’t even think Jr is the right person for it. But you are in the right family. Dale is most valuable to the sport in the exact role he’s in. Kelley would be great at it.
I’d agree with that 100% I know Kelley is really who runs JRM day to day. But JR has the knowledge, experience, and now wisdom to really understand the business AND the fan perspective. I think that’s why him and Kelley have been so successful. Dale runs the business from the perspective and with the passion of a fan. Because he is one.
Kelley makes all the business stuff work.
We also don't need someone with Rick Hendrick in his ear and a vested interest into making things better for his own team.
What was people's #1 issue with Denny and the lawsuit? Aside from it being Denny Hamlin; that he didn't care about the health of the sport he just wanted to line his own pockets.
But change Denny for Junior, and suddenly he's the man destined to lead us back to the promised land.
Yes for god’s sake, think of the stakeholders! Those poor millionaires. 😭
Mike Helton, do your thing.
I’m available
"Who can win over stakeholders"
Kinda seems like some of the cool "trying things out" were his ideas. I hope they don't lose that mentality.
It needs to stop being a “family business” to succeed. Being a “family business” isn’t going to help fix the series.
Mark Martin would be good in that role, or Kelley Earnhardt would be great in those roles. Honestly if they both worked together as a team as a commissioner duo I think the sport could go far.
Mark is totally dying to do it
that duo would be incredible
The fans will never realize what they lost by pushing for Steve’s head. I think the sport would be in a much worst spot than it was if not for his influence.
Ok Steve
Let’s be real for a minute, though: It’s pretty clear from the lawsuit that 90% of the stubbornness that dragged the sport into a lawsuit was directly at the feet of Jim France.
It’s entirely plausible that as non-optimal or “corporate manager” as he may have been, Phelps was a useful buffer that helped things happen that J. France would’ve just shot down. That can be a true statement without bowing before Phelps in worship.
Edit: Missing word
The court documents are pretty damning that we're better off without him.
Being better than his predecessor does not mean good. It means not as bad.
You’ve never sent a frustrated text about a collage or customer you would be embarrassed if they saw it? I certainly have.
I have. And in those threads I even said I wasn't going to let those texts affect how I was looking at the trial itself because it wasn't anything I haven't said about NASCAR, it's fans or Richard Childress.
But I have changed my mind since those threads, and it's one thing for an underling or low level employee to say that about the boss or the customer. It is another for the boss to say that.
So Phelps' unprofessional emails exhibit stability and vision? This guy is a joke of a journalist.
And he hides behind a paywall and he plays the role of toolbag on a podcast.
This is Jim Utter version 2.0!!! I love it!!!
I merely read your comment and Jim Utter just blocked me again.
An excellent point. Many of us rightly got a huge kick out of Tommy Morris’ letter in re: those emails the day before the NASCAR vs. 23XI/FRM settlement was announced, but IMO his observations were spot-on. With the things Phelps was saying behind the scenes all by itself — about an owner who wasn’t even a party to the lawsuit — the well, for lack of a better term, was well and truly poisoned. With that cat out of the bag, there was no way NASCAR would’ve been trusted by the owners as a whole — to the extent they even were in the first place — to be acting in good faith about anything related to the sport. Steve Phelps pretty much had to be shown the door at that point, IMO.
Still get excited knowing we are free from Phelps
It would argue it actually came at a perfect time. When you need stability and vision Steve Phelps isn’t the guy you want at the head of it
Yeah, this is Ben Kennedy’s job to lose…not that they need a commissioner to begin with.
Nah. I think the France family is waiting for Jim to retire/die off. Ben running the whole show makes too much sense
Jay Frye is the guy... but he just took the job of Team President at RLL on April 1 so he would be leaving after less than a year.
Yeah right, wokey needed to go
Counterpoint: Steve Phelps is a fucking clown.
I beleive premiere oval racing in America is ripe for new competition.
Bring Helton back?
Doesn’t have to be hard, hire Dale Jr
Where do I apply? I can do it
Stern is still heartbroken
Could Mark Martin be a serious candidate? He certainly has the PR and a vision that I believe a lot of the drivers’ share.
Mark was my favorite driver, but he has a few too many “old man yells at clouds” takes. As much as some people hate to admit, NASCAR has to be flexible or the people paying the bills (sponsors, tv networks, etc.)are gonna stop paying the bills.
Does he though? He's been pretty focused on one topic, that being the points system. He made a few comments about what he thought during the trial, but aside from that it's been pretty much solely about the points system. And his opinion aligns with a very large portion of the fan base.
Let's face it... NASCAR doesn't care what us fans want. In fact, it almost seems like half the decisions they make are purposely made to spite us. Mark is a respected member of the NASCAR community and having him advocate for fans and the current drivers is a good thing.
Not everyone who has a strong opinion and voices it is an old man yelling at the clouds.
Year, this was an ignorant take by me.