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.”
