The basketball legend says Nascar gives teams too little power with too much risk. His lawsuit could force historic changes to how one of America’s biggest sports is run

Michael Jordan took the stand on Friday in his landmark antitrust fight against Nascar, a case that could reshape how one of America’s biggest sports is run. Jordan’s team, 23XI Racing, and Front Row Motorsports say Nascar holds so much control over everything, from the tracks to the money to the rulebook, that teams have no real bargaining power. Nascar denies that and says the lawsuit threatens to blow up a system that has held the sport together for decades.

The case has already pulled blunt internal messages into public view and laid bare long-running frustrations between teams and Nascar leadership. Denny Hamlin, Jordan’s co-owner, has said the trial will finally “hear the truth” about how the series “really operates”.