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With the clock winding down on one of NASCAR’s most contentious courtroom showdowns, the organization’s legal team is taking a bold step to fast-track the finish.
Christopher Yates, NASCAR’s lead external attorney from Latham & Watkins, told Judge Kenneth Bell on Tuesday that the organization plans to cut its witness list from about a dozen names to just a few.
The goal is to finish the lengthy antitrust trial by the end of the week – something that looked less and less likely as Day 7 dragged into the evening.
Why is NASCAR Trimming the Witness List?
According to Adam Stern of Motorsport, the sanctioning body notified Judge Kenneth Bell that it will move forward with a shorter witness list than originally planned. Why did NASCAR decide to do that?
Judge Kenneth Bell has been pressing both sides to move faster, and he hasn’t hidden his frustration. He has already extended court hours by an extra hour each day, publicly scolded attorneys for dragging things out, and watched his two-week target timeline start to slip.
NASCAR’s latest move is a direct response to that mounting judicial pressure. It’s not the only reason NASCAR wants to get this over with as soon as possible, but Judge Bell has been a pretty big factor.
On Tuesday, Bell tore into NASCAR attorney Lawrence Buterman for dragging the jury through 55 years of racing history, despite there being no legal discovery from before 2014. “The jury is giving us an extra hour per day,” Bell said sharply. “That is not an excuse to waste that hour.”
The rebuke came during the extended cross-examination of economist Edward Snyder. Attorney Lawrence Buterman continued to press him with questions about Formula One benchmarks, cost caps, and even hypothetical racing series.
Judge Kenneth Bell repeatedly cut him off, using phrases like “asked and answered” and telling him to move on.
Also, Day 7 was rough for NASCAR. Steve Phelps had to apologize for calling Childress a “stupid redneck,” Jim France’s repeated “I don’t recall” answers made him look evasive, and financial documents kept revealing uncomfortable truths.
Revelations about the France family’s wealth, team losses, the hard stop on permanent charters, and alleged threats tied to the dirt series put NASCAR in an uncomfortable position.
Adding more witnesses would only increase the risk of tough, potentially damaging cross-examination.
It wasn’t just Day 7; the entire trial has been a disaster for NASCAR so far. The testimony has consistently painted NASCAR as inflexible, controlling, and enriching the France family while teams lose money.
Therefore, NASCAR aims to streamline the witness list and minimize potential damage. Even though it might already be too late, the legal team must believe this gives them a better chance to control the narrative.
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