CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The two teams suing NASCAR over an antitrust complaint have won a preliminary injunction that will allow them to compete as licensed teams in 2025.
U.S. District Court Judge Kenneth D. Bell said in his ruling, in favor of 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports, that “NASCAR fans (and members of the public who may become fans) have an interest in seeing all the teams compete with their best drivers. and the most competitive teams.
NASCAR did not immediately respond to a request for comment and did not indicate whether it plans to appeal.
23XI, the team owned by NBA Hall of Famer Michael Jordan and three-time Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin, and Front Row declined in September to sign take-it-or-leave-it revenue-sharing deals by NASCAR only 48 hours before the start. playoffs.
A charter is essentially a franchise and guarantees prize money, a spot on the field each week and other protections.
The teams filed an antitrust lawsuit alleging that NASCAR’s owners are “monopolistic tyrants” and were denied a request by a federal court in November to be recognized as “licensed” teams while the suit continues.
23XI and Front Row can now sign the charter agreements and pursue legal action. They also each gained approval to purchase additional charters from Stewart Haas Racing, which closed its four-team shop at the end of the 2024 season, and NASCAR must approve transfers to those teams.
“YESSSSSSS!!!!!!! » Hamlin wrote on social media.
It was a well-deserved victory for 23XI. Tyler Reddick, who finished fourth in the 2024 Cup standings, had an opt-out clause in his contract that would have kicked in and made him a free agent if the team had not landed a charter for the next season. 23XI driver Bubba Wallace also informed his team that he needed to know how it planned to compete “immediately” so he could explore options with other teams, the judge wrote.
Jordan had said he took the battle to court on behalf of all the teams competing in the top motorsports series in the United States. NASCAR had argued that the two teams simply didn’t like the terms of the final rental agreement and requested the lawsuit be dismissed.
Front Row and 23XI want to go from two full-time cars to three. They have agreements with SHR to each purchase a charter. SHR is now called Haas Factory and plans to use a single charter in 2025.
Until the injunction, 23XI and Front Row would have been forced to compete next season as “open” teams that do not enjoy the same protections or financial gains that come with holding a charter.
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.
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 on a progressive basis. of the progress of the case.
“Here, the public interest strongly favors a limited preliminary injunction in favor of plaintiffs during the 2025 NASCAR racing season, both to give fans of stock car racing the opportunity to watch (and support for and against) all teams and to allow plaintiffs to take antitrust legal challenges into account,” Bell wrote.
Front Row is owned by businessman Bob Jenkins, while 23XI is owned by Jordan, Hamlin and Curtis Polk, Jordan’s longtime advisor.
Jenkins told the Associated Press in October that the two teams stood to lose a combined $45 million in revenue if they competed without charters. But he was willing to do it for Front Row because he believed the case against NASCAR was winnable.
NASCAR has been operating with 36 licensed teams and four open spots since the lease agreement began in 2016.
“The availability of multiple sports in the United States says nothing about NASCAR’s control over any of them, just as the availability of professional basketball and football has not led to the conclusion that NCAA was not a monopoly,” the judge said. ruled.
