Roger Penske and Rick Hendrick will potentially have to answer all questions posed during pretrial deposition and cross-examination after a new ruling by Judge Kenneth D. Bell.
The two owners of champion teams had filed a petition for a protective order after judge grants 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports the right to deposit them in front of a antitrust lawsuit against NASCAR.
As their legal counsel stated in the motion, Penske and Hendrick “agreed to give limited testimony on non-confidential matters during the trial of this matter” after being approached by NASCAR CEO Jim France. They added that 23XI and Front Row could potentially request testimony regarding “highly confidential financial and other business information.”
Hendrick and Penske wanted to put safeguards in place, which would limit the topics discussed during the deposition and trial. Justice Bell rejected this request.
“As the Court has repeatedly stated, the trial of this matter will be publicly and fairly contested in accordance with applicable rules and laws, without regard to the prominence of the companies and individuals involved. No company or individual will be accorded special treatment (which is effectively what the movers and shakers are seeking here),” Judge Bell wrote in his order.
“NASCAR has represented to Plaintiffs and now to this Court (Doc. No. 423) that Mr. Hendrick and Mr. Penske will be called as NASCAR witnesses at trial. Therefore, unless NASCAR irrevocably agrees not to call these individuals as witnesses at trial, Plaintiffs have the right to depose them promptly before trial and to cross-examine them at trial under applicable federal rules, without limitation.”
Hendrick and Penske said in their motion that they did not want to take sides in this lawsuit “which should have been settled long ago.” Their wish was not fulfilled. NASCAR and CEO Jim France identified these two team owners on the witness list, then approached them after the end of the season to be witnesses at trial.
This addition to the witness list occurred after the investigation was closed, so 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports sought the opportunity to remove both team owners so they could “remedy the injustice caused by NASCAR’s actions.”
Judge Bell granted both teams the right to depose Hendrick and Penske. Now he’s given them the right to cover any topic they want as this legal battle with NASCAR continues.
