23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports filed a motion Wednesday in U.S. District Court for a preliminary injunction that would allow both teams to compete as chartered teams despite not signing the new charter agreement that begins in 2025.
Both teams have filed an antitrust lawsuit against NASCAR.
The two teams were the only Cup organizations not to sign the charter agreement by NASCAR’s deadline last month. The two teams stated in court documents that Cup teams received the final offer on Sept. 6 and had about an hour to sign the agreement “or risk not having a charter for 2025.” NASCAR extended the deadline to midnight.
23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports seek to have three charters each for their current teams — the two that each currently has and one each due to purchase agreements with Stewart-Haas Racing.
In court documents filed Wednesday, the 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports state: " ... if Plaintiffs cannot obtain charters for the 2025 season without giving up their antitrust rights, they will suffer severe and irreparable harm. They have brought this motion for a preliminary injunction so that they can continue to compete in Cup Series events under the terms of the 2025 Charter Agreements without risking forfeiture of their antitrust claims.”
A hearing will be held Nov. 4 in federal court in Charlotte, North Carolina after a judge granted NASCAR’s request to move the hearing.
In a news release, 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports stated that they had also filed a motion for expedited discovery. The teams are asking the court to give their legal counsel immediate access to documents and files from NASCAR executives Jim France, Lesa France Kennedy, Ben Kennedy, Steve O’Donnell, Steve Phelps, and Scott Prime.
The teams stated that they are seeking:
· 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.
NASCAR has been ordered by the court to respond to this by Friday.
23XI Racing is owned by Michael Jordan, Denny Hamlin and Curtis Polk. Front Row Motorsports is owned by Bob Jenkins.
“The 23Xl and Front Row Motorsports teams are fully committed to competing in next year’s Cup Series,” the teams said in a statement Wednesday. “Today’s procedural filing is the next step in advancing our case against NASCAR and their monopolistic practices, while protecting our drivers, race teams, and sponsors by establishing our legal right to run in 2025.”
