Front Row Motorsports and 23XI Racing filed for a preliminary injunction to allow the two teams to race as chartered entries in the NASCAR Cup Series in 2025.
The two teams said they would be filing for the injunction a week ago when they filed a lawsuit against NASCAR over the sanctioning body’s new charter agreement. FRM and 23XI are the only two teams that didn’t sign the franchising agreement before an early-September deadline. The other 13 chartered teams signed the agreement.
“The 23XI and Front Row Motorsports teams are fully committed to competing in next year’s Cup Series,” a statement from the teams said. “Today’s procedural filing is the next step in advancing our case against NASCAR and their monopolistic practices, while protecting our drivers, race teams and sponsors by establishing our legal right to run in 2025.”
23XI is co-owned by Michael Jordan and Cup Series driver Denny Hamlin. Front Row Motorsports has competed in the Cup Series for nearly 20 years. Both teams are looking to expand from two cars to three in 2025.
Chartered teams are guaranteed a spot into every race and receive a larger portion of purse money than open teams. In its lawsuit against NASCAR, the teams said it took $18 million per season to field a competitive car. And that figure didn’t include driver salary.
The lawsuit accuses NASCAR of being monopolistic. NASCAR sent its teams its final charter proposal the week before the playoffs began and gave the teams hours to accept the terms. NASCAR has declined to comment on the lawsuit.
The current charter agreement expires at the end of the 2024 season along with NASCAR’s current media rights deal. Starting next season, NASCAR will add TNT and Amazon as media partners through the 2031 season.
