TALLADEGA, ALABAMA – OCTOBER 06: NASCAR president Steve Phelps walks the grid prior to the NASCAR … [+]
The legal battle between NASCAR, 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports is heating up.
The latest missile has been launched at NASCAR. Just last week, 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports slapped NASCAR with an antitrust lawsuit, and now, on Wednesday, they’re taking steps to ensure their cars keep ripping down the track next season—whether NASCAR likes it or not.
NASCAR, however, seems ready for a fight.
It all started with Charters—fancy talk for franchise agreements that guarantee teams a spot in the race and a slice of the cash pie. But when 15 teams signed the new agreements, 23XI and Front Row refused to play ball. But don’t think this is just a little tiff over paperwork. This lawsuit is aiming right at the heart of how NASCAR does business. Denny Hamlin, Michael Jordan, and Curtis Polk for 23XI, alongside Bob Jenkins for Front Row, are claiming that “NASCAR and the France family operate without transparency, have stifled competition, and control the sport of stock car racing in ways that unfairly benefit them at the expense of team owners, drivers, sponsors, partners, and fans, through anti-competitive practices.”
Just seven days after dropping that legal bomb, on Wednesday, the teams filed for an injunction to keep them on the track while the lawsuit makes its slow way through the courts—a process that could drag on for years if it ends up in a trial. And they didn’t stop there; they’ve also put in a request for expedited discovery, demanding that NASCAR hand over documents from its top brass: Jim France, Lesa France Kennedy, Ben Kennedy, Steve O’Donnell, Steve Phelps, and Scott Prime. They’re on the hunt for evidence about:
· Documents discussing the mandatory release provision in the 2025 charter agreement;
· Documents discussing NASCAR’s decision to end negotiating with the Team Negotiating Committee and only negotiate with individual racing teams for the 2025 charter agreement; and
· Documents discussing NASCAR’s decision to present to the teams a take-it-or-leave-it final proposal for the 2025 charter agreement.
They are also seeking documents and files surrounding “NASCAR’s exclusive or restrictive contracts with independently owned racetracks that have hosted Cup Series races since 2016, NASCAR’s acquisitions of the International Speedway Corporation (ISC) and Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA), and the charter agreement provisions that restrict teams from competing in non-NASCAR events and from using Next Gen parts and cars in non-NASCAR events.”
TALLADEGA, AL – APRIL 28: Front Row Motorsports Team owner Bob Jenkins during Qualifying for the … [+]
NASCAR, for its part, has been tight-lipped. But Wednesday, some of their thoughts started to trickle out from a mountain of legal documents. And what a read it is. It includes letters between 23XI and NASCAR from last month. NASCAR handed out its final Charter agreement on August 30, 2024, with a deadline for teams to sign by September 6. Thirteen teams inked their signatures, but 23XI, in a letter co-signed by Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin, cried foul over the short timeline and claimed that “NASCAR with superior bargaining power and undue influence over all charters, has not provided 23XI with a fair opportunity to negotiate,” accusing NASCAR of putting them in a “damned-if-we-do-damned-if-we-don’t” predicament.
In somewhat cool reply from September 11, signed by NASCAR president Steve Phelps, NASCAR fired back. “You suggest that NASCAR ‘approved’ your investment in the sport,” it read. “The decision to buy a NASCAR team was a unilateral choice made by you as experienced businessmen.” Phelps went on to point out that negotiations had been going on for two years, and that they’d even started the talks early to try and smooth things out.
23XI wasn’t buying it. They shot back on September 13, saying, “It is disappointing that NASCAR refuses to negotiate with 23XI Racing in good faith and continues to present us with a take-it-or-leave-it agreement with untenable and coercive deadlines.” They also claimed that the only time they had a real sit-down with NASCAR about the Charter renewal was on May 10, 2024. According to them, NASCAR brushed off all of their suggested changes and stuck to their guns with that final proposal, essentially telling the teams, “Take it or leave it.”
And then NASCAR’s final note, undated but signed again by Phelps, had somewhat ominous tone: “Of the eight points raised in your letter, it appears 7 of them may have been resolved and we appreciate your acknowledgement that failing to agree on all points is not a failure to negotiate in good faith.”
The message ends with a cold, hard reality: “Obviously if you decide not to execute your Charter Agreement(s) then you are welcome to race in the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series as an open team and we will be happy to forward you documentation. Whether you renew or not, NASCAR looks forward to working with you in 2025 and beyond.”
So here we are. 23XI and Front Row filed their suit on October 2, and now they’re fighting to keep their Charters for next season. If the court doesn’t grant them that injunction, NASCAR is ready to yank those Charters and let the team’s race as open entries.
It’s clear NASCAR is gearing up for a battle, and judging by the heat in these letters, this showdown is only just beginning. Grab some popcorn—it’s going to be a bumpy ride.
