In a move that suggests a settlement is the most likely outcome in the ongoing antitrust lawsuit pitting Michael Jordan-owned 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports against NASCAR, the parties have reached an agreement that allows the two teams to compete as open teams while their litigation continues.
The two teams’ attorney, Jeffrey Kessler, announced Saturday that the arrangement permits 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports to sign contracts as open teams—instead of chartered teams—without having to accept a clause that would contractually relinquish their antitrust claims. Such a clause would likely forfeit their case since their claims invoke antitrust law.
As Sportico detailed, the teams this week appealed U.S. District Judge Frank D. Whitney’s recent denial of their motion for a preliminary injunction to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. They seek an order that would allow them to compete as de facto chartered teams despite not signing the charter and would table language that relinquishes their legal claims.
Whitney denied an injunction since he concluded the teams haven’t shown they’re at risk of harm in the absence of an injunction. While the teams forecast the possibility of drivers and sponsors dropping them and of NASCAR excluding the two teams, Whitney felt those prognostications were speculative and bereft of specifics.
Kessler hopes the Fourth Circuit will grant an expedited review, which Kessler says is essential since the 2025 series will hold its first race on Feb. 2, 2025. Absent an injunction, Kessler warns 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports will face a “Hobson’s choice,” in that they’d either need to give up their case or go “be out of business from competing as premier stock car racing teams.”
While the new agreement doesn’t alter 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports’ legal theory that NASCAR and its CEO, James France, have exploited and suppressed control over premier stock racing car teams, it does signal that the parties are able to work through some of their differences and reach a resolution. 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports have made it clear they do not regard competing as open teams as a lasting solution, but it seems they view it acceptable on an interim basis. The parties could eventually craft a more lasting solution that adjusts how NASCAR oversees the marketplace for stock car racing but preserves the association’s leading role.
