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The shoeys. The jokes. The tattoos. The infamous, exaggerated “Pierreee Gaslyyyyyy!!!” and Nico Hülkenberg shouts.

Daniel Ricciardo isn’t a world champion or among the Formula One all-time greats based on his results — eight wins, three pole positions and 32 podium finishes over 13 seasons. But in the sport’s modern era, the Australian driver cemented himself as a one-of-a-kind icon by wearing his heart on his sleeve. The authenticity and humanity Ricciardo brought over the years drew in fans, new and old.

The Ricciardo glimpses over six seasons of Netflix’s ‘Drive to Survive’ docuseries is the same driver media saw in the paddock. But beneath the surface is a fierce competitor. His peak came during his Red Bull days, from 2014-2018, and his last time on the podium happened in 2021 when he won the Italian Grand Prix, McLaren’s first F1 win since 2012.

“For anyone who thought I left, I never left,” he said over the team radio that day. “Just moved aside for a while.”

But he also experienced two hiatuses, one when he departed McLaren in 2022 and again in 2023 as he recovered from surgery while competing for AlphaTauri (now known as RB). His speed is evident, but Ricciardo lacked consistency in 2024. Questions arose whether Ricciardo could make a comeback to the senior team — a goal that never came to fruition.

“This year, the purpose was to try and do good enough to get back into Red Bull and fight for wins again, see if I’ve still got it,” Ricciardo said in Singapore. “I felt like I came up short with that, so I think it’s then, ‘OK, what else am I fighting for here? What else is going to give me fulfillment?’”

RB announced last week that Liam Lawson would replace Ricciardo for the remainder of the 2024 season. The seemingly awkward exit for Ricciardo led to mass criticism from fans on social media, given Ricciardo’s widespread popularity and a legacy bigger than just statistics and unique in the sport’s history.

Ricciardo recorded eight wins in 14 seasons on the grid. (Charles Coates/Getty Images)

Ricciardo’s F1 career started similarly to how it ended.

The Australian joined the grid with HRT partway through the 2011 season, replacing Narain Karthikeyan. The team hadn’t scored in the first eight races of the year and opted to hand the reins to the Red Bull Academy driver. During Ricciardo’s first season, he often was near the back of the grid; however, he often out-qualified and finished ahead of teammate Vitantonio Liuzzi, one of Red Bull’s first F1 drivers.

Red Bull promoted Ricciardo the following year to Toro Rosso, its sister team now known as RB. The Australian scored his first points in 2012 and continued to improve, finishing behind teammate Jean-Eric Vergne in 2012 but ahead in 2013. It was enough for Red Bull to call Ricciardo up to the senior team when Mark Webber left F1 at the end of the 2013 campaign.

The Red Bull chapter (from 2014-2018) became Ricciardo’s glory years. The 2014 season was the dawn of a new hybrid engine era for F1, and he thrived over the next four seasons, showing flashes of F1 world champion potential. It was easy to assume he would be Red Bull’s No. 2 to teammate Sebastian Vettel, who was a four-time world champion by that point. But while Mercedes’ duo of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg dominated, they were defeated three times in 2014 — by Ricciardo each time.

Montreal was the Australian driver’s first F1 win, passing Rosberg with two laps to go. The other wins in 2014 came in Hungary (with impressive overtakes on Hamilton and Fernando Alonso) and Belgium (remember Hamilton and Rosberg’s collision?). By season’s end, he finished third in the driver standings and 71 points ahead of Vettel.

Even though Red Bull fell to the midfield in 2015, Ricciardo managed to secure a few podium finishes. When Max Verstappen joined part-way through 2016, Ricciardo’s biggest battle became his rising teammate. When the two went wheel-to-wheel in Malaysia, Ricciardo came out victorious. As Verstappen grew, the pair battled, memorably crashing out at the 2018 Azerbaijan GP.

Come 2019, Ricciardo left Red Bull for Renault, a decision many have questioned as Red Bull became a powerhouse. The two-year stint only led to a few podium finishes before he moved to McLaren. His time with the Woking-based team, though, ended a year before his contract was set to expire (McLaren signed Oscar Piastri for 2023 instead). Red Bull swooped in to keep Ricciardo around the sport as its “third driver.”

The win at Monaco was the pinnacle of Ricciardo’s F1 peak. (Dan Istitene/Getty Images)

“I didn’t recognize the Daniel (he was) at the end of his tenure at McLaren,” Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said on the F1 Nation podcast. “I said to him, ‘Why don’t you come and join us, rediscover your passion for your sport?’” Horner added Ricciardo had “picked up some really bad habits” during his time at McLaren. “And bit by bit, working with his old engineering team, he started to find his form again.”

Ricciardo’s hunger came back. When Nyck de Vries got cut from AlphaTauri, the Australian was tapped as the replacement. Ricciardo later missed five races that season after injuring his hand, and Lawson served as the replacement, making a big impression.

GO DEEPER

How Daniel Ricciardo’s F1 hiatus prepared him to make an injury comeback

But on the senior team, Sergio Pérez struggled in late 2023. Ricciardo essentially was the Milton Keynes-based team’s safety net and publicly desired a return to Red Bull. During the 2024 campaign, Ricciardo’s form lacked consistency. However, Pérez’s struggles reemerged, which led to many wondering ahead of summer break whether a return to Red Bull would be possible for the Australian.

“I would have loved to see him use it as a springboard to get back to where he was, to have completed the story. But it wasn’t to be,” Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said on F1 Nation, after news broke of Ricciardo being replaced at RB. “Daniel’s honest about that, and he knows in his heart he gave it his best shot. He’s had a great career, he’s had a great run, but unfortunately the next chapter wasn’t to be.”

Ricciardo’s career, during its prime, was marked by being the last of the late-brakers — a fearless driver who courted dreams of contending for a world championship before they slipped away for various reasons (like Mercedes’ decade-long domination). But several of his wins featured passing masterclasses, like in China 2018 when Ricciardo famously said, “Sometimes you just have to lick the stamp and send it.”

But one of the most iconic victories was likely Monaco 2018 — yes, that photo. He nursed mechanical issues for 50 laps, and even his race engineer was surprised, saying after the Australian crossed the line, “I don’t know how you did that, Daniel.”

His final race at Singapore behind him, it’s end of an era for Ricciardo, at least on-track.

“He’s a natural entertainer and a showman,” Horner continued, “he will be for sure in front of the camera at some point and I’m sure there will be a documentary or something, that will be fascinating.”

“I’m Daniel Ricciardo, and I’m a car mechanic.”

His voice is the first you hear on the pilot episode of ‘Drive to Survive.’ He is shown as the first sit-down interview, and he didn’t disappoint, quick to joke on one of the first questions he was asked. With Mercedes and Ferrari not participating in the first season, Ricciardo stepped into the spotlight and became part of why the newest wave of fans fell in love with F1.

Ricciardo’s star turn on ‘Drive To Survive’ made him an overnight F1 superstar. (Peter Fox/Getty Images)

In a sport where the athletes spend most of their time in cars with helmets on, Netflix allowed fans to get closer to the sport’s personalities than ever before. Ricciardo brought the human element from the get-go while decked in his Red Bull gear during Season 1. As the seasons wore on, several moments throughout his career that we recounted became immortalized on Netflix. The Monaco pool belly flop. Ricciardo’s move to Renault. The emotions of the 2021 Italian GP victory with McLaren.

Leaving Red Bull for Renault saw his on-track results dip, but his popularity took off as Ricciardo’s career unfolded. He became a superstar of the Netflix docuseries, a show partially credited with F1’s popularity boom. The sport and fandom grew alongside him as critical moves in his career post-Red Bull were captured intimately on camera. When his time at McLaren was coming to an end in 2022, Netflix put together a segment reflecting on his time in F1, showing various clips from across the years.

Before the montage ran in the finale of season five, a producer said off camera, “This might be the last time you’re sat in this chair.” Ricciardo replied, “Yeah,” while the producer asked, “Thought about that?”

Ricciardo sighed.

“I mean, the show wouldn’t be the same without me, so… what do you do?”

DANIEL RICCIARDO. Forever our Honey Badger. pic.twitter.com/19Rf0P3yHs

— Netflix (@netflix) September 27, 2024

Fan edits began surfacing on social media after the Singapore GP, with posts on different platforms honoring the Australian and paired with songs like ‘Pink Skies’ by Zach Bryan (one of Ricciardo’s favorite music artists). When news broke that Lawson was replacing him, plenty of current and previous drivers, as well as multiple teams, shared their thoughts about the Australian driver.

“(Daniel), it’s been a honour to compete with you over the years. I’ll never forget the battles, the laughs, and drinking out of your shoe. It was gross, but glad I got to do it with you bud,” Hamilton posted on Instagram. “You leave a legacy of always being yourself, which in this sport is never easy. You’ve taken it all with the biggest smile and I salute you for it. There is so much more for you up ahead and I can’t wait to see what you do next. Always here for you, man.”

But Ricciardo became bigger than the sport, his popularity extending beyond the confines of the F1 world. He appeared on podcasts and talk shows, gracing the couches of Jimmy Kimmel and Stephen Colbert’s shows. He attended the Met Gala for the first time in 2023, something Hamilton has done five times. He created his merchandise line, Enchanté, and launched a wine collection. Non-F1 official sports accounts even weighed in about the late driver drop, like the Vegas Golden Knights and the NFL Australia and New Zealand account with the Buffalo Bills.

The departure is not a complete surprise, though a swap before the final six races (and three sprints) does raise eyebrows. Ricciardo’s performance lacked consistency, and the idea of a Red Bull comeback started having question marks.

It remains to be seen what Ricciardo’s next move will be. Interestingly, the word retirement has yet to be used publicly, but the sentiment seems to be there.

With F1 behind him, Ricciardo has plenty of career options ahead. (Dan Istitene – Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images)

“I’m proud of the career. I tried to become world champion, I tried to become the best at something in the world,” Ricciardo said in Singapore. “I think it is a tall task that we ask from ourselves. Some achieve it, some don’t. In the end, if I came up a little short, I also can’t be too hard on myself.

“Happy with the effort I put in, and for that, there’s no sadness or feeling or regret or what could have been.”

It is natural to wonder whether he’ll look at other motorsports series, like NASCAR or Supercars, to name a few. Perhaps, one day, he’ll try his hand at broadcasting like Jenson Button, Jolyon Palmer or David Coulthard. Given the fan response to his departure, many likely hope the 35-year-old will stay around the world of F1. Horner does.

“We’ve made it very clear that we want him to remain in an ambassadorial capacity with the team, and of course, one never really knows. I mean, if Liam doesn’t get the job done, if Checo doesn’t get the job done, we know what Daniel’s capability is,” Horner said on F1 Nation. “But I think for him, he knows, at the age that he’s at, he’s had a great career. So many memories.

“The most disgusting thing ever was drinking champagne out of his sweaty boot! But he made it his own, and he got some incredible people to drink the champagne from his sweaty shoe.”

GO DEEPER

Who is Daniel Ricciardo’s F1 replacement? Meet Liam Lawson, New Zealand’s latest F1 trailblazer

Top photo: Vince Mignott/MB Media via Getty Images; Design: Dan Goldfarb/The Athletic

So much has changed across college football over the past three years. There have been seismic coaching moves. Realignment has eliminated a power conference and forced us to reconsider how much geography actually matters. And the introduction of name, image and likeness combined with the freedom of movement provided by the transfer portal has thrown all prior convictions about roster management to the wind.

With all of these changes, we thought it was a perfect time to revisit this question we posed three years ago: What are the top five jobs in the sport?

The Athletic polled 50 people working in college football — from head coaches to general managers to assistant coaches, analysts and recruiting staffers — to determine which programs are now at the top of the food chain.

Some jobs might be attractive to one person but viewed completely differently by others. For example, one assistant coach’s ballot included Florida Atlantic (“great location, not as much pressure”) and Liberty (“they pay well, have really good facilities and that schedule”) among his top five. And the general manager of a Power 4 program said: “All that matters anymore is NIL and support.”

Even with all of the changes, a great job in 2021 is still a great job in 2024. The order of the top five has changed, but it’s composed of the usual suspects.

Note: First-place votes received 5 points, second-place received 4 points and so on. Several voters had a tie for fifth place; each school received 1 point for that vote. All voters were granted anonymity so they could speak candidly.

1. Georgia

Points: 173
First-place votes: 16
Total ballots: 43
Ranking in 2021: 3rd

Georgia might have lost to Alabama on the field last weekend, but that doesn’t change how this job is viewed in the industry.

The list of reasons this program sits in the top spot is long. As one Big Ten assistant put it: “Georgia is No. 1 because of the pool of (money) they have to pay, donor support, the facilities, the ability to consistently compete for a national championship, the tradition, the recruiting base they have in the South and the NFL pedigree that they can sell to recruits.”

Georgia is operating at peak efficiency right now. The university is committed to winning. The donors and fans are, too.

And the talent pool is immense. At one time, Texas, Florida and California were viewed as the big three states in recruiting circles, but that’s changed dramatically. The state of Georgia has produced 152 blue-chip prospects over the past three recruiting cycles (2023-25), far outpacing California (104 blue-chippers) in terms of talent production.

Georgia Tech is another in-state P4 program, but it’s not a true threat to the Bulldogs’ recruiting efforts. And though out-of-state programs such as Alabama, Tennessee and Clemson, among many others, have scored some nice recruiting wins in the state, Georgia still eats first.

The Bulldogs had all of these advantages three years ago, too, but had yet to break through and win their first national title since 1980. They won it in 2021 and followed up with another in 2022.

We’re supposed to separate coaches from the program for this exercise, but it’s difficult when Kirby Smart has Georgia functioning like the closest thing we’ve seen to Nick Saban’s Alabama.

“Kirby is the new Saban,” an AAC assistant said, “They’re ahead of the curve on everything.”

Kirby Smart has won two national titles at Georgia. (Dale Zanine / Imagn Images)

2. Texas

Points: 155
First-place votes: 12
Total ballots: 45
Ranking in 2021: 3rd

The potential is limitless. It’s the flagship university in a state that produces an abundance of talent with everything you could ask for in terms of NIL, facilities and staffing.

“It’s the absolutely unlimited resources that you have to do whatever you need,” said a Group of 5 offensive coordinator who voted Texas No. 1. “That is a place that has zero excuses (not) to win.”

The Longhorns have been strong in the NIL space from the very beginning. One of Steve Sarkisian’s most pressing priorities when he took the job was to beef up the trenches. So what did some alumni and supporters do? They created an NIL initiative that provided $50,000 annually to every scholarship offensive lineman. That total seems like nothing years later, but the thought process is what matters.

The move to the SEC will pour even more money into a program and an athletic department that was already among the richest in the nation.

Texas has had these sorts of advantages even before realignment and NIL drastically changed the sport. But internal alignment and politics are key components of this job and are reasons that have prevented the Longhorns from reaching their potential in the past.

“Texas has such a great recruiting pool. That recruiting base is just so vibrant,” an SEC coordinator said. “You just gotta know how to deal with the politics with the Texas high school coaches. They’ll screw your ass in a heartbeat. Those coaches want to be recruited like they’re the five-star. It’s totally different than anywhere else.”

An AAC assistant said: “Has everything but you have to have the personality to handle all the boosters (like Mack Brown and Sark do).”

Texas has a quality athletic director, Chris Del Conte, in place now. Sarkisian has done an outstanding job building the roster, mainly through high school recruiting but also with some key transfers. He won the Big 12 in the program’s final year in the league and is a contender for an SEC and national championship this year. And it seems like everyone is pulling in the same direction, which is why an already great job is viewed more favorably than it was in the previous iteration of this poll.

Points: 143
First-place votes: 8
Total ballots: 45
Ranking in 2021: 2nd

The Ohio State job is essentially recession-proof. The Buckeyes have avoided the sustained stretch of mediocrity that Alabama, Texas and other elite programs have experienced. The past three coaches, including Ryan Day, have won at least 82 percent of their games. The last six coaches have posted a winning percentage of .715 or better.

Ohio State has always been a power, but Urban Meyer changed the way the program recruited upon his arrival in 2012. Previous coaches relied on the best players in Ohio and the Midwest. Meyer went national and began signing top-five classes, and now the Buckeyes are one of the sport’s biggest brands. In the 2025 recruiting cycle, Ohio State holds commitments from blue-chip prospects out of Texas, Alabama, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Florida, Oklahoma, California and North Carolina. There has been a considerable talent gap between Ohio State and most of the teams in the Big Ten over the last decade.

But Michigan’s national championship served as a wake-up call for Ohio State and its supporters from an NIL perspective. The program was much more aggressive on that front this offseason and it led to significant player retention and crucial transfer portal additions.

“They can recruit nationally better than anyone else up there,” an AAC head coach said. “They can get SEC-caliber players and then they’re playing against slower teams. It’s also pretty evident that their NIL is pretty legit. And I think in this day and age, I think you judge the jobs off NIL. It starts with that, and then facilities and tradition. Like Ole Miss is a better job than it’s ever been because they’re throwing around tons of money.”

Of course, with all these advantages comes expectations. Day has yet to deliver a national championship to Columbus, and he’s lost to Michigan in three consecutive seasons. The pressure is on to beat the Wolverines and contend for the national championship this season. There are no excuses.

4. Alabama

Points: 123
First-place votes: 6
Total ballots: 43
Ranking in 2021: 1st

No program has won at a higher level for a longer period than what Alabama did under Saban. But, naturally, there’s the curiosity of what this job will be like without the greatest college coach of all time in charge.

The commitment, support and alignment are there. The recruiting appeal is strong. So is the brand power and whatever else you can think of.

But it’s tough to follow the man who just put together the greatest dynasty the sport has ever seen. Matching that success will be virtually impossible. Expectations are high, but how realistic or patient will the fans be?

“Has all (the positives) but sneaky hard (job) given expectations,” an AAC assistant coach said. “All Bama guys I worked with said UGA and LSU were a better job than Bama.”

“Saban set the standard,” a Big Ten receivers coach said, “but Saban also set the standard.”

All that might be true, but Kalen DeBoer has done all the right things since he took over in January. The Crimson Tide are recruiting at a high level — they have the No. 2 class in the country — and they just beat Georgia in a thriller to move up to No. 1 in the AP poll this week. So things are going as well as one could reasonably expect on and off the field.

“The network and the system is set,” an SEC coordinator said.

5. LSU

Points: 53
First-place votes: 3
Total ballots: 24
Ranking in 2021: 5th

There was a wide gap between the top four jobs and No. 5, but LSU is still a program with all the advantages needed to win championships.

The Tigers are the only power-conference program in Louisiana and have traditionally done an outstanding job keeping top talent from leaving the state. In the 2024 cycle, LSU signed 10 of the 11 blue-chip prospects in the state. In the current cycle, the Tigers have commitments from eight of the 12 blue-chippers from Louisiana.

“The entire state is rooting for you and they have such a great recruiting footprint,” an SEC coordinator said. “Houston is so close by and so many people there are big LSU fans. They can beat both Mississippi schools for whoever they want there, and they have that stadium and the culture. LSU is very unique. You don’t even have to recruit — you just have to evaluate, especially now that Saban is out of the game.”

It’s important to note that LSU’s previous three coaches — Saban, Les Miles and Ed Orgeron — won a national championship. That is the expectation, and things haven’t ended well when coaches start to slip from the standard.

Miles and Orgeron were fired. Kelly reached the SEC title game in his first year but hasn’t been close to making a College Football Playoff appearance or competing for a national championship. The pressure will soon mount if this doesn’t change.

“It’s a unique job,” a Big Ten assistant said. “They can always get the top players out of that state, but if you have one bad year there, (oh), man.”

The best of the rest

Only four other programs received first-place votes: Oregon (two), USC (one), Michigan (one) and Texas A&M (one).

The Ducks ranked No. 6 with 28 points, followed by Michigan (19) and USC (16)

Three years ago, Oregon received just 10 points and ranked 14th. NIL has changed the game for the Ducks, who were a solid recruiting program before but are elite now and are a viable contender for almost any prospect they pursue.

“I think it’s gone from being a top-15 to a top six-seven job because of NIL,” a Big Ten assistant coach said.

A Power 4 head coach said: “Oregon is playing a different sport than the rest of the West Coast.”

As far as USC, a G5 coordinator said: “You have the market on the West Coast and the ability where, no matter what, you should be able to get guys. It is the West Coast school and there are not a whole lot of other big programs out there. No matter what people might say, I still think it’s an unbelievable job.”

Notably, Oregon and USC were the only two West Coast programs that received any votes. “Great places,” said an SEC assistant who considered putting those programs in his top five. “Recruiting is harder. I’ve lived it (out there.)”

Meanwhile, the allure of Texas A&M for some is still very real.

“Haven’t cashed in yet but it’s a gold mine,” a Power 4 coordinator said. “Best facilities. Most money. Most resources. NIL elite. Football state. One of the best followings. No limitations. Most don’t agree (but) just my opinion.”

Florida and Miami both received 8 points. The Florida job seems bound to open soon considering Billy Napier’s struggles. There were a couple of voters who placed the Gators just outside of the top five.

“Should be (top five),” one P4 recruiting staffer said, “but everyone keeps messing it up.”

(Illustration: Dan Goldfarb / The Athletic; photos: Bruce Yeung, Tim Warner, Kevin Liles / Sports Illustrated; John Korduner / Icon Sportswire)

Aaron Judge pounded the old-school scoreboard in left-center field with such ferocity that 18-year-old Luke Weaver feared for the safety of everyone.

Each time a ball struck the scoreboard, it echoed like a sonic boom, reverberating off the three poles that held it up. The Brewster Whitecaps’ stadium in the Cape Cod League is enveloped by dense trees on three sides, allowing the sound of a baseball striking metal repeatedly in the summer of 2012 to echo even 12 years later.

“You could hear it almost rocking,” New York Yankees reliever Luke Weaver said. “There was this feeling that if he kept hitting it, he would knock it over on one of them.”

Weaver and Judge were teammates in the Cape Cod League during the summer of 2012: Weaver, a freshman at Florida State, and Judge, a junior at Fresno State. At that time, Weaver generated more buzz than Judge; the wiry, unassuming athlete was one of FSU’s most celebrated signings. Meanwhile, Judge, standing 6-foot-7, naturally drew attention on any baseball field, his towering presence reminiscent of an NBA forward.

Now, Judge has established himself as MLB’s best hitter. Judge’s 218 wRC+ this season is the highest for a right-handed batter in MLB history. The Yankees’ superstar is a virtual lock to win his second American League MVP Award after leading the league in home runs (58), RBI (144), walks (133), on-base percentage (.458), slugging percentage (.701) and OPS (1.159). Judge’s slugging percentage alone ranked higher than 11 teams’ combined OPS this season.

In 2012, Judge wasn’t seen as a can’t-miss prospect; there were weaknesses in his game that opponents could exploit, primarily due to his size. At the time, Weaver had no inkling that they would both emerge as key figures on a World Series contender, standing in this position today.

“There wasn’t the kind of status around him that there is now,” Weaver said. “You’re sitting there thinking he’s got all the tools to be one of the best players. But if the media isn’t circulating around that player and hyping him up, you don’t really think about it more than it needs to be.”

Even when Judge debuted for the Yankees in 2016, his performance was lackluster. With a .609 OPS and a staggering 50 percent strikeout rate, he struggled to make an impact when the Yankees called him up that August, ushering in the Baby Bombers era.

However, that offseason altered the trajectory of his career.

In early November 2016, one of Judge’s agents, David Matranga, called Richard Schenck, a hitting instructor, to see if his client could work with him. Although Judge had the talent to make the majors that year, it was clear he needed to refine his swing to achieve his long-term goals.

Schenck met Judge at a D-BAT hitting facility in Peoria, Ariz., and spent a week with the Yankees prospect, hitting twice a day.

“I didn’t know who the heck he was when I was asked to work with him,” Schenck said. “I’m from St. Louis. I’m a Cardinals fan. I didn’t follow the Yankees or their draft picks.”

The first drill Schenck introduced to Judge was the command drill, in which he instructs hitters to get ready to swing. When he says “go,” they must swing. They’re then timed. The faster the better, because it emulates the speed at which pitchers are throwing the baseball. The goal of this drill is to ensure hitters are prepared to swing immediately when prompted, without loading or shifting in the box first. Judge attempted the drill but struggled.

“I put the ball on a tee for me and a ball on the tee for him. David said ‘Load up, go,’” Schenck said. “I was 62, Aaron was 24 and he could not hit the ball before me. That got his attention. He still talks about it to this day. He is way bigger, way better and way stronger and yet I hit the ball and squared it before him. That got his attention.

“His swing was terrible. He had an amateur swing. He was a good athlete but couldn’t get his barrel up to speed quickly. That’s what you need to do in order to hit. That’s what we worked on. Initially, I wasn’t impressed with his swing.”

Judge pushed back on his personal hitting coach’s assessment of his swing in 2016.

“I wouldn’t say it was terrible, but I just got done hitting .179 in the big leagues,” Judge said. “I didn’t want to do that again. If this is what got me .179, I think me making a change would hopefully get me better than .179. I was open to anything. It’s about taking a risk and taking a chance. If I was going to get out of this game and fail and never play again, I’d rather it be on my terms than anybody else’s.”

Before the 2017 season began, Judge and Schenck held 23 sessions, each lasting between 40 minutes to an hour. About halfway through their training, Schenck noticed significant progress in Judge’s swing. He observed that Judge was beginning to snap the barrel backward instead of pushing it forward, a fundamental principle of Schenck’s teaching. This adjustment leads to a powerful stretch between the snap of the barrel and a hitter’s rear leg, marking the point where their hard work began to translate onto the field.

“All of a sudden, you get this little smirk like holy s—, what did I just do?” Schenck said. “At that point, they’re hooked. It’s an addiction.”

In 2017, Judge hit 52 home runs and won the AL Rookie of the Year Award. Eight years after their initial meeting, Judge and Schenck now schedule hitting sessions every two weeks at a private facility, both at home and on the road. Occasionally, Judge cancels their sessions, feeling his swing is in such a good place that there isn’t much to work on.

That deep barrel, that ‘short to’ path…..is why their numbers are so much better than others. pic.twitter.com/kkjSNyYJAg

— Richard Schenck, JFD PPP LQC TTE 🙂 (@Teacherman1986) September 30, 2024

Even when the pair don’t meet, Schenck frequently sends video clips of himself discussing and demonstrating Judge’s swing, providing a visual of what his coach observes during his at-bats. He shares side-by-side comparisons of when Judge’s swing was nearly perfect and what he’s doing in the moments when he’s struggling at the plate. Judge has fully embraced Schenck’s hitting philosophy, where his mistakes are now so subtle that it can sometimes be nearly impossible to pinpoint what’s going wrong. Sometimes, it’s an issue of timing; other times, Judge struggles to maintain control in his launch position when he needs to decide whether to swing.

It’s during these moments of failure that Judge finds motivation. He often tells reporters that he doesn’t feel truly locked in at the plate unless he’s hitting 1.000 — a feat that is impossible throughout a season. No matter how well his numbers indicate he’s performing, Judge is always searching for improvement.

“Anything I did growing up, whether it was basketball or football, I wanted to be the best,” Judge said. “I probably got that from my dad, who always worked with me and always pushed me. He wanted perfection. He wanted the best for me. I think I took that trait from him.”

In recent years, Judge has sharpened his ability to detect even the slightest flaws in his swing. During their sessions in the batting cage, Schenck might praise his form, but Judge will often correct him, noting that he missed the barrel.

In 2022, as Judge approached the single-season American League home run record, he sensed something was amiss. He sent Schenck a video from his batting practice, believing his swing path was slightly off. Schenck confirmed that Judge’s intuition was spot on. The very next day, he hit his 62nd home run.

“He can feel things that I can’t see,” Schenck said. “He’s always been a perfectionist, but he’s just more perfect now than he was then.

“I don’t want to say the game is easy, but the game is easier for him than it is for everyone else.”

Inside the American League clubhouse at this year’s All-Star Game, Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. exchanged tips with Judge. The presumptive runner-up in the MVP race was struck by Judge’s remarkable ability to consistently be on time for any pitch, regardless of what’s coming.

“It’s incredible to see what he’s doing with how consistent he is,” Witt said. “That’s the biggest thing because a lot of times with power hitters, they go through things. But with him each and every week, he’s chucking away and putting up numbers to help his team win. This game comes down to how well you can prepare, the work you put in and the mindset. The game is evolving with the pitching and everything. It means you have to evolve. That’s what everyone is doing.”

Being ready to swing at pitch release gives Judge the maximum time to decide whether to unload or not. Judge’s mastery of his mechanics also allows him to be in position to hit regardless of whether the opposing pitcher is throwing 100 mph fastballs or 75 mph curveballs.

This year, Judge led MLB in run value against four-seam fastballs, sinkers and sweepers. Despite facing the highest volume of sweepers among all hitters, he slugged an astounding .816 against the frisbee-like slider. Over the past two seasons, opposing pitchers have frequently relied on sliders while attacking Judge, hoping he would chase pitches off the plate. This year, Judge faced the most sliders of his career, and he responded with a remarkable .984 OPS against all types of sliders.

Judge’s mechanics allows him to render any pitch type irrelevant when he’s in the batter’s box. Schenck noted that Judge has remarked that if he had practiced this technique as a teenager, he likely would have been the No. 1 overall pick.

“When you deeply understand this, it’s like you’re cheating,” Schenck said of his teaching. “It’s like you’re a varsity player on JV.”

For most of 2024, Judge resembled Bronx Little League legend Danny Almonte. It was as though Judge was playing a different game than everyone else. His 218 wRC+, the seventh-highest in MLB history, was 37 percentage points better than Shohei Ohtani’s 181. Judge’s 11.2 fWAR ranks as the 19th highest in MLB history, surpassed only by legends such as Babe Ruth, Barry Bonds, Lou Gehrig, Rogers Hornsby, Honus Wagner, Ted Williams, Ty Cobb, Pedro Martinez, Mickey Mantle, and Jimmie Foxx.

Even after smashing 62 homers in 2022, Judge leveled up in 2024. Beyond his home run total, he excelled in nearly every counting category this season.

“The best version we’ve ever seen,” Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora said of Judge this year. “And he’s had some great seasons before, right?”

“I believe that Judge is the most amazing hitter that I’ve ever watched,” Yankees third baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. said.

One of Judge’s primary objectives heading into the 2024 season was to improve his control of the strike zone, and he achieved that goal. He swung at fewer pitches outside the strike zone than ever before in his career. Aside from the shortened 2020 season, Judge also made contact with more pitches inside the strike zone than at any previous point.

Additionally, there has been a noticeable shift in his approach to each at-bat. Over the past three seasons, nearly half of his at-bats have ended in a fly ball — an ideal outcome given his strength. While he and Schenck didn’t alter his swing path, Judge noted that he is now focused on hitting line drives rather than simply elevating the ball.

“I try to hit it out toward the batter’s eye and hit it into our bullpen,” Judge said of his approach. “If I can hit a line drive out there and if I can get a little under it, it’s going to be a higher chance of a home run. I think it’s just some of the swing changes I made all the way back in ’17 about just kind of cleaning up my path a little bit to try to help me get the ball in the air more.

“I’m not really trying to hit home runs, which people think I do. I really don’t. I’m trying to hit line drives, and my line drives like (Giancarlo) Stanton, Yordan Alvarez and some of those guys, they just happen to go out.”

Judge led MLB with a 32.2 percent home run-to-fly ball ratio, surpassing any HR/FB ratio that Bonds achieved. As a lifelong fan of the San Francisco Giants, Judge has often cited Bonds as an influence and considers him the greatest player in MLB history.

What Schenck didn’t foresee when they first met in 2016 was that Judge would evolve into a right-handed version of Bonds. If a pitcher fails to execute their pitches, beware.

“You make a mistake, you’re getting a new ball,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said.

Schenck doesn’t hold back his training secrets when working with Judge; he often posts videos of their sessions and the drills they perform. He feels validated when reviewing footage of players outside of his own clients, noting that regardless of who fans consider the best in the game, they all snap the barrel backward, consciously or not. In contrast, those who struggle typically fail to load properly.

While every player has a unique batting stance, Schenck asserts that the mechanics from load to contact are fundamentally the same. Some players execute these mechanics more consistently than others, but the best, including Judge, all share this common approach.

Judge (pictured in September 2016) struggled in his first month and a half in the majors. (AP Photo/Kathy Kmonicek)

In Schenck’s view, what truly sets Judge apart is the combination of his exceptional technique and athleticism.

“When Aaron decides to swing, he swings,” Schenck said. “When the ball comes at you at 100 mph or 78 mph, you can’t afford any slop moves. You have to just swing. You can’t move to a new position then swing after you’ve decided to swing. You have to be able to instantly swing.”

Judge was never worried about his rough start in April; he recognized it was merely a timing issue. He was healthy and making solid contact, but just a tick off. He knew that once his mechanics fell into sync, he would start delivering damage. With a .674 OPS in his first 123 plate appearances and only four home runs — just one more than Alex Verdugo — Judge appeared to be struggling. He then exploded for the rest of the season, hitting a home run every 8.48 at-bats.

But home run records aren’t what Judge is chasing; he wants a title. Judge has already accomplished every meaningful individual accolade a player can earn, but the glaring gap on his resume is a World Series championship.

Fair or not, Yankees greats are evaluated by the rings they possess. He could retire now and still be celebrated for the rest of time in Yankees lore like Don Mattingly, a former captain who never won a title. Mattingly was, and still is, a fan favorite, but he’s not in the same conversation as legends like Jeter, Rivera, Ruth, Gehrig, Mantle, DiMaggio and Berra.

Given how Judge’s career is trending and how he has mastered the art of hitting, a championship could firmly establish him in the pantheon of the most storied franchise in baseball.

“I think there’s no question he’s one of the franchise’s greatest players, but he’s playing for that,” Boone said. “That’s why he does this, not to rack up the personal accolades. He embodies that. He lives that. And that’s what we’re all working to get to. And I’m sure winning it all would certainly add a level to his legacy.”

(Top photo of Aaron Judge: Al Bello/Getty Images)

MILWAUKEE — As the New York Mets pinballed between the Atlanta Braves and Milwaukee Brewers over the past week, they’d banished any thoughts of fatigue. The adrenaline of their postseason push, the momentum of their late-season magic, could carry them deeper into October.

Late Wednesday, six outs away from their first postseason series win in nine years, the limitations imposed by their schedule caught up with them.

Jackson Chourio and Garrett Mitchell each took setup man Phil Maton deep in a three-run eighth inning, and the Brewers came back to stun the Mets 5-3 in Game 2 of this best-of-three Wild Card Series. Jose Quintana will face Tobias Myers in the decisive Game 3 on Thursday evening.

“We got punched today,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “We’ll get right back.”

So much of the night had gone according to plan for Mendoza and the Mets. They’d scored early with one in the first and two in the second, and they’d consistently applied pressure to Milwaukee’s pitching staff. Sean Manaea rebounded from Chourio’s leadoff home run in the first to hold the lead. And the first two pitchers out of the bullpen were sharp, with Reed Garrett and Ryne Stanek facing the minimum in scoreless frames.

That got the Mets to the bottom of the eighth with a one-run advantage and the top of the Brewers’ order coming up, starting with Chourio.

Two factors influenced the Mets’ decision to turn to Maton for the eighth even though he’d be pitching for the fourth time in five days. First, though closer Edwin Díaz was available, the Mets didn’t want to use him for more than three outs, given Díaz’s heavy usage of late. (Mendoza said, “We were just going to keep it at one inning today,” and Díaz said he was told to be ready to secure four outs if necessary.)

Second, they liked Maton’s cutter against Chourio’s swing. Chourio’s expected numbers against cutters were worse than those against fastballs and sliders: Of the 22 home runs he’d hit up to that point this season, nine had been on fastballs, four on sliders and none on cutters.

That’s why they went with Maton over keeping Stanek and his hard four-seam fastball in the game, and that’s why they preferred to hold Díaz for the middle of the order in the ninth.

“The whole time we were going through the situation, we wanted a Maton-Chourio matchup,” Mendoza said. “It just didn’t work.”

Maton had earned his way into the primary setup role by pitching lights out since coming over from the Tampa Bay Rays midway through the season. New York has leaned on him heavily this week. He got five outs Saturday and three more Sunday, and he was back out to protect the lead in the eighth Monday, eventually giving up two runs.

He felt ready to pitch Wednesday, even if it meant a fourth appearance in five days.

“I feel great. It’s playoff baseball,” he said. “Adrenaline flowing, everything is feeling good.”

Chourio took a 1-1 cutter up in the zone out to right field for his second opposite-field homer of the night. At the time, Maton had not surrendered a homer in his last 108 batters.

He’d serve up another four batters later to Mitchell, who had entered as a pinch runner two innings prior. That came on a curveball up.

“He left a lot of pitches in the middle of the zone,” Mendoza said. “The overall stuff was OK, even though we asked a lot out of him.”

The Mets’ lack of a reliable lefty bit them against Mitchell, who hit a walk-off homer against them last season. New York has shied away from Danny Young in key spots of late because of his control issues, and while Mendoza said pregame that starter David Peterson would be available out of the pen, he changed course postgame.“He was not available,” he said. “He was not even in the conversation.”

Milwaukee’s eighth-inning rally put a spotlight on all the runs the Mets left on the bases. They could have pushed across a second run in the opening frame if Pete Alonso hadn’t tripped over his bat on the way to first, permitting the Brewers an easy double play. The Mets had a runner on second with nobody out in the fourth and with two outs in the fifth. They didn’t score. They had the first two men on in the sixth and a leadoff man on in the eighth. They didn’t score.

“I thought we had really good at-bats,” Mendoza said. “We just didn’t get the big hit today.”

The Mets have talked of playing playoff baseball for weeks now, of playing with the urgency the postseason demands over the final stretch of September just to arrive there. Thursday presents that challenge in the starkest terms possible: Win or go home.

“We’ve been responding to adversity all year,” Alonso said. “I’m really excited for this challenge. This is what the playoffs are all about.”

(Photo of Phil Maton: John Fisher / Getty Images)

The Eastern Conference may not be the stronger of the two NBA conferences, but its intrigue level rises above the West going into the season.

The Boston Celtics are the defending NBA champions. The New York Knicks had a loud offseason following their best season in quite some time. The Philadelphia 76ers added Paul George to help Joel Embiid capture that elusive trip to the NBA Finals. What does Year 2 of Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard look like? The young Orlando Magic feel primed to turn another corner. We could go on and on.

Here to discuss how the East might shake out this season, The Athletic’s Celtics writer Jay King and Knicks writer James L. Edwards III give their thoughts and predictions on the offseasons and what things could look like.

Which top-six seed from a season ago improved the most this offseason?

Edwards: Whether or not you believe New York’s recent trade for Karl-Anthony Towns made the franchise better, the Knicks — and Sixers— are the only teams at the top of the East who made significant changes in hopes of reaching the NBA Finals. The defending champs didn’t make any big upgrades. Neither did Milwaukee, Cleveland or Indiana.

Orlando signed Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, and that was one of my favorite moves of the summer. However, given that the Knicks added Towns and Mikal Bridges, even at the expense of depth, they feel like the safest choice.

I believe New York and Boston have the two best starting lineups in the NBA. The Celtics’ depth is a bit more proven, and I wouldn’t be surprised if that ends up being the difference between the two teams at the end of the season.

King: I would put the 76ers into the mix of improved teams atop the East. Tyrese Maxey, Paul George and Joel Embiid should fit together on paper. If Embiid lost as much weight over the offseason as he claims, he will have a chance to hold up physically through the playoffs in a manner he has never achieved before. And if he can do that, Philadelphia will be as dangerous a challenger to Boston as any other team in the East.

New York wins the most improved award, though. I wouldn’t have said that a week before the Towns trade, but the Knicks eliminated a potential Julius Randle problem (would he really fit with this roster?) by turning him and Donte DiVincenzo into an answer to their glaring hole at center.

As well as DiVincenzo played last season, New York, with a surplus of guards, could stand to lose him. Towns will open the court for Jalen Brunson, whose herky-jerky game doesn’t need much space anyway, and give the Knicks some much-needed size. I’m curious to see how they will morph whenever Mitchell Robinson returns from a foot injury, but their five-out attack should keep the scoreboard operator busy. Before sliding over to power forward to make way for Rudy Gobert, Towns regularly ranked as one of the league’s most effective offensive players at the center position. Not many big men can shoot like he does.

Can a slimmed-down Joel Embiid make a difference for the new-look 76ers? (Tim Nwachukwu / Getty Images)

Who are the Celtics’ biggest threat to dethroning them as the best team in the East?

Edwards: It’s between the Knicks and 76ers for me.

As I said previously, New York might — I said “might,” Boston fans — have the best starting lineup in basketball. Jalen Brunson averaged 28.7 points last season with, at times, inadequate spacing around him. Now, the Most Valuable Player candidate has the best spacing unit around him that he’s ever had. Bridges and OG Anunoby are possibly the two best wings in the NBA who have never made an All-Star game. Towns is the best shooting big man in basketball. And Josh Hart is the ultimate glue guy.

Philadelphia, though, does still have, arguably, the most dominant player in basketball when healthy in Embiid. Paul George will be a good complement to Embiid and, as last season showed, he’s still playing at a very high level. And, oh, Tyrese Maxey continues to get better and better.

Both teams have key players with not-great injury histories, and I’m not sure which team is better suited to withstand a significant injury or two.

If you’re making me pick one, I’ll go with New York not only due to what I think Brunson will do this season, but also because Bridges, Anunoby and Hart are as good of a wing rotation as you can get in the NBA.

King: It’s the 76ers. As great as the Celtics’ starting lineup is, one potential vulnerability is the lack of a bruising big-man defender. That’s why, when they played Philadelphia early last season, they used Jrue Holiday on Embiid. The bizarre matchup worked for a small stretch but couldn’t be trusted to last throughout a seven-game series.

The Celtics’ potential weakness was never tested because they didn’t run into Embiid, Nikola Jokić or Antetokounmpo during the playoffs. But that weakness is there, lurking, and I’d love to see how they would strategize against one of those guys. Towns wouldn’t lean on them in the same manner. The Knicks are built more like Boston and, if the Celtics are healthy, I’m not convinced any team will beat them at their own game. I’m still not ready to write off the Bucks, but their core is old, their supporting cast is flawed and they need a lot to go right to reestablish themselves as a chief contender.

Let’s go to the bottom of the East. Which Play-In team do you think is most likely to grab a top-six seed?

Edwards: I answered this in a roundabout way already by saying the 76ers are as big of a threat as the Knicks to take down Boston. So, they’re my pick.

Philadelphia, despite finishing with the same record as Indiana last season, ended up with the No. 7 seed. The 76ers only got 39 regular-season games out of Embiid and still finished 12 games above .500. I do think George and Caleb Martin are upgrades over Tobias Harris and Buddy Hield. Another year of Maxey should do everyone some good. Also, Andre Drummond backing up Embiid was a nice move around the margins.

I think Philadelphia will be better than both the Pacers and Cavaliers this season and end up with a top-four seed at worst.

King: I feel confident saying it won’t be the Bulls, who have embraced a rebuilding process at last. The obvious answer here is the 76ers, who should leap out of the Play-In Tournament if they can stay reasonably healthy. That said, I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Heat also vault out of the Play-In and into the top six. They would need Jimmy Butler on the court consistently, but could get a boost from promising youngsters Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Nikola Jović.

Which bottom-seven team in the East improved the most?

Edwards: I mean, it’s Detroit, right? The Pistons should be at least 10 games better than the 14 wins they got a season ago. However, I also thought last season couldn’t be worse after winning just 17 games during the 2022-23 campaign. Somehow, I was very wrong.

And before you go and say, Oh, here goes the old Pistons writer, John Hollinger agrees with me, too! Everyone thinks he hates Detroit.

Why did I pick the Pistons, you ask? Well, the bar is very low with 14 wins. Also, Cade Cunningham came off of what was essentially a lost second season due to a shin injury that required surgery (he only played in 12 games) to put up All-Star-ish numbers in Year 3. He grew his game in the worst situation possible. He’s a real player.

This offseason, the Pistons added solid veterans who rarely miss games in Harris, Malik Beasley and Tim Hardaway Jr. — injuries have plagued the Pistons in recent seasons. Cunningham now has shooters around him with the addition of those vets, Simone Fontecchio and Isaiah Stewart. Fontecchio was a sneaky-good addition at last year’s trade deadline. He only was able to play in 16 games after coming over from Utah due to a foot injury, but he averaged 15.4 points while shooting 42.6 percent from 3 when he did play. The defense was solid, too.

Detroit has decent depth this season, should be pissed off after last year and, in Cunningham, a potential star player.

Also, the bottom of the East is really, really bad.

King: Am I delusional to think the Charlotte Hornets won’t be totally hopeless? A starting lineup of LaMelo Ball, Brandon Miller, Miles Bridges, Grant Williams and Mark Williams isn’t horrible! They will have a new energy with the addition of head coach Charles Lee. I’m almost into the idea of a significant Charlotte improvement?

The right answer is the Pistons, though. Partly because of how bad they were last season. Partly because they added some legitimate rotation players. They won’t be good, but they won’t chase the wrong type of history either. Cunningham should remind everyone why he was such a highly-regarded prospect.

Who will be the worst team in the East?

Edwards: Brooklyn.

The Nets are the only Eastern team that appears to be playing “Capture The Flagg” from the start of the season. No one has a clue what Ben Simmons will look like or if he’ll play more than 20 games. I like Nic Claxton, but he’s not saving this thing. I like Cam Johnson and Dorian Finney-Smith, too, but I wouldn’t be surprised if neither is on the roster after the trade deadline. Cam Thomas is an experience. The 35-year-old Bojan Bogdanović is a bucket, but he’s been dealing with injuries as of late and just had offseason surgery that has lingered into the start of camp.

Maybe Brooklyn will be OK defensively with Claxton, Dorian Finney-Smith, Johnson and Simmons – assuming he can stay healthy to start the season – for 30 games or so, but it feels like the Nets are going to shut this whole operation down early.

King: The Wizards.

As dreadful as the bottom of the conference is, the Wizards are in a class of their own. Jordan Poole was a walking lowlight during his first season away from Golden State. Teenager Alexandre Sarr, the second pick in the draft, shot 19.1 percent from the field during summer league. I can’t imagine he’ll walk into the NBA as a helpful player, but his draft status will ensure he receives consistent minutes anyway. Malcolm Brogdon is probably wondering what he did to deserve a season in Washington following a campaign in Portland. In Brogdon, Kyle Kuzma and Jonas Valančiūnas, the Wizards do have a few veterans worthy of an NBA rotation spot, but an accumulation of youthful mistakes is forming around them.

Shout out to Toronto, though. You know a team is headed for a long year when its starting center openly admits winning is no longer the priority. Salute to Jakob Poeltl the truth-teller.

Call your shot: What will the Eastern Conference standings be by the end of the regular season?

Edwards: 1. Celtics, 2. Knicks, 3. 76ers, 4. Bucks, 5. Magic, 6. Cavaliers, 7. Heat, 8. Pacers, 9. Hawks, 10. Pistons, 11. Raptors, 12. Hornets, 13. Bulls, 14. Wizards, 15. Nets

King: Before giving my standings prediction, I just want to mention the Magic who we have ignored. They’re going to be good! Maybe really good! Especially if Paolo Banchero and/or Franz Wagner learn how to shoot.

Sorry for failing to hype you up earlier, Orlando. You deserve better from us.

Anyway…

1. Celtics, 2. Knicks, 3. 76ers, 4. Magic, 5. Pacers, 6. Bucks, 7. Cavaliers, 8. Heat, 9. Hawks, 10. Pistons, 11. Hornets, 12. Raptors, 13. Bulls, 14. Nets, 15. Wizards

Required reading

The Basketball 100

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The story of the greatest plays in NBA history.

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(Illustration: Meech Robinson / The Athletic; top photos: Stephen Maturen, Sarah Stier, Adam Glanzman / Getty Images) 

Two NASCAR teams, including one owned by basketball icon Michael Jordan, accused NASCAR of being a monopoly in a joint antitrust lawsuit filed Wednesday morning in federal court.

23XI Racing, the team co-owned by Jordan and three-time Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin, joined with Front Row Motorsports to allege NASCAR and its CEO Jim France have used “anticompetitive and exclusionary practices” to “enrich themselves at the expense of the premier stock car racing teams.”

“I love the sport of racing and the passion of our fans, but the way NASCAR is run today is unfair to teams, drivers, sponsors and fans,” Jordan said in a statement. “Today’s action shows I’m willing to fight for a competitive market where everyone wins.”

The disagreement stems from a long dispute related to NASCAR’s so-called “charter system,” which is similar to franchises for race teams. Holding a charter guarantees a starting spot in all 36 NASCAR Cup Series points races, and charter teams earn a share of the $1.1 billion per year in television money NASCAR will collect from a new TV deal starting next year.

Teams have been trying to negotiate an extension of the original 2016 charter agreement for more than two years before it expires Dec. 31, but NASCAR refused to give teams many of the concessions they sought — including making the charters permanent.

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Last month, after meeting with teams individually, NASCAR told owners their offer was final — and the lawsuit alleges if enough teams did not sign it by a midnight deadline, NASCAR threatened to “eliminate the charter system altogether for 2025 and beyond.”

“They made a very serious threat to us, so we had to react seriously,” Hamlin said in an interview.

That reaction included 23XI (pronounced “23-11,” for Jordan’s longtime jersey number and Hamlin’s car number) and Front Row declining to sign the proposed agreement and being the only two holdouts among the current 15 charter organizations.

Front Row owner Bob Jenkins and 23XI stand to lose their four combined charters entirely if the legal situation does not play out in their favor, and the charters have sold for as much as $40 million.

“I don’t know what it’s going to cost me if I lose two charters in my race team, but it’s a lot of money,” Jenkins said in an interview. “But it’s the right thing to do. It’s the right thing for the sport.”

NASCAR did not offer an immediate comment as it is reviewing the filing.

GO DEEPER

Why are 23XI and Front Row suing NASCAR? Here’s what you need to know

The teams claim that while even the winningest organizations struggle to break even, NASCAR has unlawfully blocked the formation or growth of any other series — thus forcing competitors “to accept take-it-or-leave-it economic conditions” in order to participate.

Some of those practices alleged to be illegally monopolistic include purchasing a majority of the country’s top racetracks and giving NASCAR exclusivity to those venues; forcing other NASCAR-sanctioned racetracks to abide by exclusivity agreements; purchasing NASCAR’s “only other recognizable stock car racing series competitor” (ARCA) in 2018; prohibiting Cup teams from participating in any other stock car races; and choosing the exclusive third-party vendors to sell cars and parts to race teams while retaining ownership of all cars and parts.

23XI and Front Row have retained attorney Jeffrey Kessler, whose legal victories include the creation of NFL free agency, the implementation of name, image and likeness deals in college athletics and winning equal pay for the U.S. women’s national soccer team.

Kessler told The Athletic every major sport goes through a transformation — “usually by the application of the antitrust laws, sometimes some other major transformative event.”

And this lawsuit, he said, “is NASCAR’s moment.”

“Someone had to stand up and say, ‘I’m not going to take it anymore,’” he said. “That’s what these two teams have done.”

Curtis Polk, another 23XI co-owner who is Jordan’s longtime business partner, said in an interview the plaintiffs are eager to discover where all the money is actually going within NASCAR (which would be obligated to open its books as part of the legal process unless it settles).

“We just want fairness,” Polk said. “It’s not about a particular issue or five particular issues. When you look at the financial inequality that exists here, how is anybody going to say that’s fair?”

Required reading

(Photo: Jared C. Tilton / Getty Images)