Amid Michael Jordan & Co.’s Silence, NASCAR Worried About 23XI’s Rivals Offering Financial Help Against Them

In a few weeks, NASCAR will go to trial against 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports for the ‘lawsuit’ filed in the Western North Carolina federal district court. The official proceedings will begin on November 4th. And between then and now, the details are bound to stir some hefty opinions. 

For starters, the coalition of Michael Jordan, Denny Hamlin, and FRM owners Bob Jenkins would like to compete under the original charter agreement next year. They’ve included a preliminary injunction for the same in their lawsuit. But ironically, that charter agreement is one of their primary grievances against the sport’s sanctioning body, besides the “monopolistic” business practices and “anti-competitive” sanctions.

Now, let’s not forget that this lawsuit, like every lawsuit, boils down to one factor—money. The teams have stated they could face “irreparable” financial damage from the fallout if NASCAR stands too stern. But amidst these developments, SportsBusinessJournal suggests that their chartered counterparts have been talking about pitching in some dollars for the plaintiffs’ brave legal crusade.

NASCAR’s charter chaos is more financial than legal

There are a few things to consider here. First, Adam Stern’s article on SBJ states that those who have discussed helping out 23XI & FRM recently could belong to any of the thirteen signees from the new charter agreement, sent to teams on September 9th, under contentious conditions. An anonymous team owner had revealed earlier that the entire process had felt like NASCAR put a ‘gun to their heads’. At the time, it was said that the teams who would not sign the final agreement could warrant NASCAR retaining their charters. Now, 23XI & FRM tested those waters by not putting pen to paper. But very few saw this lawsuit arriving barely a month later.

Although the plaintiffs have many grievances against NASCAR, their case mainly revolves around the sanctioning body violating Sections 1 & 2 of the Sherman anti-trust law. According to the Lawsuit, “Defendants (NASCAR) and their co-conspirators, by and through Defendants’ and coconspirators’ officers, directors, employees, agents, or other representatives, entered into a series of continuing contracts, combinations, and conspiracies in restraint of trade, which have the combined effect of foreclosing competition in the relevant market in violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Act.”

As for Section 2, the plaintiffs claim the “Defendants have obtained a monopsony as a buyer of the services of premier stock car racing teams in the relevant market” which violates Section 2 of the Sherman Act. In layman’s terms, Section 1 prohibits agreements between competitors that limit competition. This includes price-fixing, bid-rigging, dividing markets, etc. that restricts competition in a harmful way. Contrarily, Section 2 targets single entities (rather than agreements) and makes it unlawful for a business to dominate a market by suppressing competition through unfair methods.

Denny Hamlin, Michael Jordan, and Bob Jenkins’ suit suggest that NASCAR’s ‘unfair methods’ cost teams approximately $18 million to run a Cup car for a full-time season. For context, under the previous charter agreement, the lowest-ranked team received an annual amount of $4-5 million for showing up in all 36 races in the year. Thanks to a new $1.1 billion dollar-per-year media rights deal, NASCAR has promised that the 2025-2031 charter contract will pay teams 40% more than their earlier projected revenue per annum.

If this lawsuit takes longer than expected, 23XI & FRM will hope NASCAR agrees to their preliminary injunction, which demands the defendants let them participate in the Cup Series next year under the current charter agreement. Otherwise, they must compete as open entries, under added financial strain. NASCAR has already said no to their requests, “citing money damages can compensate plaintiffs even if they were to ultimately prevail,” in the trials.

For that fact, if things go south for 23XI Racing and FRM during the legal proceedings, they could lose anywhere over $10M each next year. Those are some hefty sums of cash, which would be equivalent to less than what a charter would’ve cost in 2016–the season NASCAR implemented the system. Regardless, when SBJ asked their representatives if any teams had come forward to help with their legal expenses, they would not be too open: “As you know, we will not comment on any speculation or rumor.”

But if any teams decide to pitch in on the big bucks, it would only mean that there are still a few others who believe in the battle currently waged by the Plaintiffs against the sport of NASCAR and its founding family. Although it seems unlikely that any of those teams will join 23XI & FRM to vindicate the sport, some team owners have exposed the various opinions floating around the NASCAR garage. And by the sound of things, more than a few quietly stand in the corner of Michael Jordan & Denny Hamlin currently.

Who will side with Michael Jordan & Denny Hamlin?

In a recent disclosure to Bob Pockrass earlier this month, Richard Childress said, “I can’t comment a whole lot now because the attorneys are handling a lot of that. But I will say that the part about, we got our docu-sign that evening at 6:37 when it came in. And we had to sign by 12 o’clock or we’d lose our charters.” One of the most iconic team owners in the history of NASCAR, and a 6x Cup Series champion with RCR, he concluded, “I didn’t have a choice because we had to sign. We have over 400 employees, OEM contracts, and sponsors, and I gotta take care of our team.” Now, a statement like that only fuels the flames of the charter agreement, feeling “forced” for the race teams.

Another team owner, Justin Marks of Trackhouse Racing, appeared on Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour podcast before the Lawsuit became a public issue, and said, “As far as the other two (FRM & 23XI), I mean, I certainly admire their conviction; I certainly admire their willingness to stand up for what they’re fighting for. What they believe in, I don’t know where it goes; I don’t know what comes out of it, because we wake up and we’re gonna prepare cars for the Daytona 500. So, we’ll see how that goes.”

However, Trackhouse, one of three teams with confirmed expansion plans in 2025 believes “It’s a wait-and-see game.” After news broke of the Lawsuit, Marks elaborated, “It’s going to take a long time to take to get to any sort of point where we know what the future looks like… For us, we just have to focus on Trackhouse.”

“Ultimately, we got to a place where I was comfortable signing the contract,” announced the former driver-turned-team owner, declaring, “We did a great job the last couple of years building a viable business under the current arrangement, and the new one will continue that in our standpoint.” Coincidentally, 23XI Racing and Front Row are the other two teams touted for a third car in 2025. But with this lawsuit in the mix, it throws a wrench into the entire picture.

And finally, Brad Keselowski, an owner-driver, the same as Denny Hamlin, but at Ford-backed RFK Racing, might have had the most accurate depiction of the entire scenario. “We’re always going to be fighting over a piece of the pie,” said the Rochester Hills, MI native. “I just want peace. I want our entire industry to become laser-focused on growing the sport and creating incentives where we all win when that happens.” And now, thanks to this Lawsuit, the sport looks primed to “change forever” in the broader, more reflective picture. So, will any of those three teams look to provide financial support to 23XI Racing & FRM during their legal troubles? It’s hard to tell, although anything can happen in love, war, and NASCAR.