Michael Jordan, co-owner of the 23XI Racing team along with Denny Hamlin and Curtis Polk, is in the middle of an intense legal dispute with NASCAR over the “charter” system — equivalent to a franchise model that guarantees spots and higher revenues in races.

During a preliminary hearing in Charlotte, revealing private text messages and emails were presented in court in which Jordan openly criticized Joe Gibbs Racing and other teams that accepted the new charter agreement last September.

In one of those messages, Jordan writes: “Teams will regret not joining us”, expressing his frustration with strong language.

NASCAR, for its part, argues that by refusing to sign extensions of the agreement, the teams lost their rights to the charters and were relegated to “open” status, which would compromise their funding and commercial agreements.

A federal judge warned that this case could jeopardize the entire charter system, as a decision is expected on whether the teams will recover that status before the trial scheduled for December.