CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A federal judge has denied NASCAR's motion to dismiss an antitrust lawsuit filed against the stock car series and sanctioning body by two teams that compete on its top-tier national circuit.
U.S. District Judge Kenneth Bell of the Western District of North Carolina also denied NASCAR's request that those same two Cup Series teams — 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports — be ordered to post a bond to cover fees they would not be legally owed if they lose the case.
Bell's decisions were announced Friday, two days after NASCAR went before the judge with its motions, a 90-minute hearing that he closed by saying "this case is going to be tried this year and deserves to be tried this year." The calendar he set when he received the case last month — taking over for Judge Frank Whitney, who heard the first round of arguments in early November — calls for a December 2025 trial.
NASCAR and the teams that compete in the Cup Series operate with a franchise system that was implemented in 2016 in which 36 cars have charters that guarantee them a spot in the field at every race and financial incentives. There are four open spots earmarked for the field each week.
Multiple teams banded together in negotiations on an improved charter system in an often contentious battle with NASCAR for nearly two years. In September, NASCAR presented the teams with a nonnegotiable offer that had to be signed the same day, just 48 hours before the start of the playoffs.
Front Row and 23XI were the only two teams out of 15 whose ownership refused to sign the new charter agreement. The pair then sued NASCAR and chairman Jim France, arguing that as the only national stock car entity in the United States, NASCAR has a monopoly and the teams are not getting their fair share of the pie.
Both suing teams maintained they would still compete as open cars, but they convinced Bell last month to give them chartered status by arguing they would suffer irreparable harm as open cars. Among the claims was that 23XI driver Tyler Reddick, last year's regular-season Cup Series champion, would contractually become an immediate free agent if the team did not have him in a guaranteed chartered car.
NASCAR argued Wednesday that it needs that money earmarked because it would be redistributed to the chartered teams if Front Row and 23XI lose.
Jeffery Kessler, considered the top antitrust lawyer in the country, argued that NASCAR has made no such promise to redistribute the funds to other teams. Kessler said NASCAR told teams it was up to NASCAR's discretion how it would use the money and didn't rule out spending some on its own legal fees.
Front Row Motorsports is owned by entrepreneur Bob Jenkins, while 23XI Racing is co-owned by Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin, six-time NBA champion Michael Jordan and Curtis Polk, a longtime adviser to the retired basketball legend.
Each team had two cars last year but plan to have three this season from new charters acquired from Stewart-Haas Racing's process of downsizing from four cars to one as Haas Factory Team moving forward.