"They are burning the house down": Kenny Wallace reacts as Michael Jordan- Curtis Polk's texts surface amid 23XI Racing vs NASCAR courtroom battle

A series of texts between 23XI Racing owners Michael Jordan and Curtis Polk surfaced during Thursday’s hearing at the U.S. Federal Court. And on Friday, former NASCAR driver Kenny Wallace reacted to it.

NASCAR presented copies of the texts as testimony to their cause. 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports demanded a preliminary injunction that would let them race as chartered teams. NASCAR, on the other hand, wanted to sell off the teams’ charters as any further delay, the governing body thought, could affect their status for the 2026 season.

“Teams are going to regret not joining us,” Michael Jordan wrote to Polk, as per Front Office Sports.

The NBA Hall of Famer also referred to the teams that signed the charter agreement as “fuc***s” and “puss**s”. In another message obtained in discovery, team president Steve Lauletta wrote,

“Jim (France) dying is probably the answer (for teams to get better charter terms).” (via Front Office Sports)

Kenny Wallace had his own thoughts about these texts coming to light.

“At any time, if you go to the Court of the Federal Government, all your texts, all your emails, are never private,” Wallace explained. “You think they are private because they're yours, but all that stuff is always right there. And they can get it.”

“So because of that, some small things became everybody's business, and I gotta tell you, they are burning the house down!” Wallace added.

If 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports lose this ongoing legal battle against NASCAR, they will lose their charter status along with it. Even if they continue racing as open teams, it’s most unlikely for them to retain their drivers, given that driver contracts usually require the teams to provide chartered cars to their drivers.

That being said, the final trial is scheduled for December 1.

NASCAR will not re-distribute charters amid heated battle with Michael Jordan’s team

During Thursday’s hearing between Michael Jordan’s team, FRM, and NASCAR, NASCAR executives promised the Federal Court that the sport would not issue, sell, convey, or lease any additional charters for the remainder of the 2025 season. They also said that they would not “issue, sell, convey, or lease” more than four additional charters for the upcoming season.

However, Jeffrey Kessler, Michael Jordan’s attorney for 23XI Racing, as well as Front Row Motorsports, said that the promise was moot. He also stated that they would respond to the filing next Tuesday, September 2.

“Plaintiffs further do not agree that Defendants’ notice and representations demonstrate Plaintiffs face no irreparable harm,” Kessler said in a statement (quoted by ABC News).

That being said, NASCAR not issuing or promising not to sell any further charters before the end of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season will not keep U.S. District Judge Kenneth Bell from issuing the preliminary injunction to the teams.