Steve Phelps out as NASCAR commissioner.
Technically, this is a resignation, but I’m counting it as a firing because it seems to be one of those “resign and keep your dignity, or stay on and get fired” situations. This is all fallout from the great NASCAR anti-trust case.
Two teams, Front Row Motorsports and 23XI Racing (the latter partially owned by Michael Jordan) sued NASCAR over alleged monopolistic behavior. The case was settled in December.
But anybody who knows anything about the legal system knows that stuff comes out in discovery. Often, that’s stuff you don’t want to come out. (“Don’t put anything in writing that you wouldn’t want to see on the front page of the Washington Post.”) Mr. Phelps apparently said some regrettable things, though the NYPost only cites one specific example:
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 letter demanding Phelps’ removal as commissioner.
In other news, Matt Eberflus out as defensive coordinator in Dallas.
The above by way of Lawrence, who also sent over an interesting fact from Yahoo Sports that I don’t have room for elsewhere:
Edited to add: and, of course, within minutes of my posting this, Lawrence emailed again to let me know Kliff Kingsbury and Joe Whitt Jr. are out as offensive and defensive coordinators (respectively) for the Washington Commanders.