CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Front Row Motorsports, one of two teams suing NASCAR in federal court, accused the stock car series Thursday of rejecting a planned purchase of a valuable charter unless the lawsuit be abandoned.
Front Row filed that complaint with the court and said it involved its plan to purchase the charter from Stewart-Haas Racing. Front Row said the show would only approve it if Front Row and 23XI Racing dropped their lawsuit.
“Specifically, NASCAR has informed us that it will not approve the (charter) transfer unless we agree to drop our current antitrust suit against them,” Jerry Freeze, chief executive of Front Row, said in a statement. affidavit filed in U.S. District Court in Western. North Carolina.
In September, both teams refused to sign NASCAR’s final “take it or leave it” offer on a new revenue-sharing deal. The other 13 teams signed the agreement.
Front Row and 23XI hesitated and are now in court. Michael Jordan, co-owner of 23XI, said he took the battle to court on behalf of all the teams competing in the top motorsports series in the United States. NASCAR argued that the two teams simply didn’t like the terms of the final rental agreement and moved to dismiss the lawsuit.
Earlier this week, the case was transferred to a different judge than the one who heard the first round of arguments and ruled against the two teams in their request for a temporary injunction to be recognized in 2025 as approved teams as the case progresses.
The latest filing is largely redacted because it outlines alleged retaliatory actions by NASCAR that teams say caused irreparable harm.
Front Row and 23XI want to go from two full-time cars to three and have reached agreements with SHR to purchase a charter each as SHR moves from four cars to one for 2025. Teams can still compete next season but are expected to do so . as well as “open” teams that do not benefit from the same protections or financial gains as those associated with holding a charter.
Freeze claimed in the affidavit that Front Row signed a purchase agreement with SHR in April and NASCAR President Steve Phelps told Freeze in September that the deal had been approved.
But when Front Row submitted the documents last month, NASCAR began asking for additional information. A Dec. 4 request from NASCAR was “primarily related to our ongoing lawsuit with NASCAR,” Freeze said.
“NASCAR informed us on December 5, 2024 that it opposed the transfer and would not approve it, contrary to the previous oral approval for the transfer confirmed by Phelps before we initiated legal action,” Freeze said . “NASCAR made it clear that the reason it was now changing course and opposing the transfer was because NASCAR was insisting that we drop the lawsuit and antitrust claims against it as a condition of approval.”
A second affidavit from Steve Lauletta, president of 23XI Racing, claims that NASCAR accused 23XI and Front Row of creating “new circumstances” in a new injunction request and a “coordinated behind-the-scenes effort” .
“That’s completely false,” Lauletta said.
Front Row is owned by businessman Bob Jenkins, while 23XI is owned by retired NBA Hall of Famer Jordan, three-time Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin and longtime Jordan advisor Curtis Polk.
NASCAR has been operating with 36 licensed teams and four open spots since the lease agreement began in 2016. NASCAR now says it will move forward in 2025 with 32 licensed teams and eight open spots, with lease deals for Front Row and 23XI canceled and the SHR Charters in limbo.
The teams say they must be chartered under some of their contractual agreements with current sponsors and drivers, and competing next year as open teams will result in significant losses.
“23XI exists to compete at the highest level of stock car racing, striving to become the best team possible. But this ambition can only be pursued within NASCAR, which has monopolized the market as the only premier circuit for stock car racing,” Lauletta said. “Our expansion efforts – buying more cars and increasing our track presence – are integral to achieving this goal.
“It is not hypocritical to operate within the only system available while striving for excellence and striving for championships,” he continued. “This is a necessity because NASCAR’s monopoly leaves 23XI with no alternative circuits, no different terms and no other viable avenues to compete at this level.”
