Kenny Wallace didn’t hold back when he addressed the latest wave of text messages tied to NASCAR’s antitrust lawsuit, a reveal that exposed internal conversations in which top executives from the sport, including Steve Phelps, used crude language about longtime team owner Richard Childress.
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The remarks surfaced through filings connected to the suit brought by 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports, which accuses NASCAR of monopolistic control over tracks and media rights. The documents also revealed apprehension within NASCAR leadership over the SRX series, which they viewed as a potential threat to television numbers despite its smaller footprint.
The disclosures land just days before the December 1, 2025, trial and have intensified public scrutiny of NASCAR’s leadership. Some fans and insiders now argue that the sport may be headed toward a reckoning involving revenue-sharing changes or even teams walking away if tensions escalate. Wallace echoed that concern during his Coffee with Kenny episode, reciting Phelps’ words in disbelief.
“Steve Phelps from NASCAR, he’s not the president right now, but I can’t even believe I’m saying this. He said Richard Childress, one of our biggest car owners in NASCAR, needs to be taken out back and flogged because he’s a dumbass redneck. Should I repeat that?” Wallace said, quoting the internal exchange.
The messages stemmed from Childress’s comments about charter negotiations during a 2023 appearance on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, where he critiqued the economics of the Next Gen model and questioned who truly benefited from a potential new media deal.
He noted he could build 14 former Cup cars for the cost of seven Next Gen cars. When asked whether a new media package would be positive, he responded, “For who?”
During a meeting that same year with team owners, Phelps received text updates from Chief Media & Revenue Officer Brian Herbst. The two exchanged remarks while navigating charter-extension discussions, hoping to reveal how fragile the upcoming broadcast rights negotiations could become without broad industry alignment.
In the newly surfaced reveal, Phelps described Childress as an impediment to progress, writing, “Childress is an idiot. If they don’t like the state of the sport, sell your charter and get out.”
He continued to insult Childress by adding, “If he’s that angry (and apparently he is), sign your charter extension and sell. He’s not smart, is a dinosaur, and a malcontent. He’s worth a couple hundred million dollars – every dollar associated with NASCAR in some fashion. Total ass-clown.”
Besides that, the exact words used by Phelps that Wallace mentioned were: “Childress needs to be taken out back and flogged. He’s a stupid redneck who owes his entire fortune to NASCAR.”
According to veteran news reporter Bob Pockrass, Phelps got in touch with Childress sometime ago to tell him he didn’t actually mean what he said. However, the messages now sit in the public record as NASCAR enters one of the most consequential legal battles in its history.
