In what is a notable victory in their ongoing federal antitrust lawsuit against NASCAR, 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports were granted a preliminary injunction on Wednesday that allows the Cup Series teams to race as chartered teams during the 2025 season, and were given the go-ahead to complete a previously agreed upon deal each team had with Stewart-Haas Racing to purchase a single charter, which NASCAR must now approve.
The decision is a reversal of a ruling in October that denied 23XI and FRM a preliminary injunction, which would have prevented the teams from racing as chartered teams — and thus with guaranteed race entries — while their lawsuit against NASCAR claiming anti-competitive practices goes forward.
At the time, Judge Frank Whitney determined then that the teams failed to meet the standard for such a request with the teams not facing irreparable harm should an injunction not be granted, but the teams could re-file if circumstances change. Teams said the circumstances did change, and when the case was transferred to Judge Kenneth Bell, he granted the preliminary injunction.
“We welcome today’s decision by Judge Bell granting a preliminary injunction in our favor. The court’s ruling allows 23XI and Front Row Motorsports to race existing cars as chartered teams in next year’s Cup Series,” said 23XI and FRM attorney Jeffrey Kessler. “The decision also requires NASCAR to approve both teams’ purchases of a third charter from Stewart-Haas Racing and allow these cars to also race as chartered teams in the 2025 season. We are confident in the strength of our case and will continue to fight so that racing can thrive and become a more competitive and fair sport in ways that benefit teams, drivers, sponsors and, most importantly, our fans.”
The Athletic has reached out to NASCAR for comment on the ruling.
Among the 15 full-time Cup teams, 23XI and FRM are the only two that did not sign NASCAR’s take-it-or-leave-it offer made in September that extended the sport’s charter agreement for seven years, through the 2031 season. A joint federal lawsuit alleging monopolistic practices was subsequently filed by 23XI, whose ownership group includes NBA legend Michael Jordan and NASCAR star driver Denny Hamlin, and FRM, owned by restaurant entrepreneur Bob Jenkins.
Earlier this month, the lawsuit was transferred to Bell. This was followed by FRM filing an affidavit last week that alleges NASCAR would only approve the purchase of the SHR charters if 23XI and FRM dropped its joint lawsuit.
As part of the filing, FRM general manager Jerry Freeze said NASCAR president Steve Phelps initially told him in September that the deal to purchase an SHR charter was approved by NASCAR, only for NASCAR to later inform the teams any approval was contingent on the lawsuit being dropped.
In addition, SHR president Joe Custer stated in an affidavit that he had been told by NASCAR multiple times that its sale of charters to 23Xi and FRM would be approved, and that should the sale not be approved, SHR was not in a position to field two additional entries, as is required by the charter agreement it signed in September.
YESSSSSSS!!!!!!!
— Denny Hamlin (@dennyhamlin) December 18, 2024
The new filings demonstrated sufficient “irreparable harm” for Bell to rule in the teams’ favor. Bell wrote that 23XI and FRM’s antitrust claims have merit, and that requiring the teams to either drop the suit or race as open teams would cause them to “suffer harm” because they could lose drivers and would not be considered charter teams.
“Here, the public interest strongly favors entry of a limited preliminary injunction in favor of the Plaintiffs during the 2025 NASCAR race season, both to give fans of stock car racing the opportunity to watch (and root for and against) the full slate of teams and to allow Plaintiffs’ antitrust legal challenges to be considered,” Bell wrote.
“Plaintiffs have established that they are likely to succeed on their claims that 1) NASCAR has monopoly power in the market for premier stock car racing and 2) to the extent that NASCAR’s 2025 Charter Agreement includes a release that bars teams from asserting the antitrust claims asserted by Plaintiffs, such a provision would be a violation of the antitrust laws,” he continued. “Further, Plaintiffs have shown that in the absence of guaranteed entry into all races as a chartered team, they will likely suffer irreparable harm through the loss of contractual control over their best drivers and the resulting inability to field their best race team.”
GO DEEPER
Both teams suing NASCAR will race in 2025
23XI and FRM being granted charter status for the 2025 season assures each organization significantly higher revenue than had they been forced to run as an “open” team. They are also guaranteed a starting spot in all 36 Cup points races. And without charters, both 23XI and FRM were also at risk of potentially losing their drivers whose contracts required them to be in a car with a charter, including 23XI’s Tyler Reddick who finished fourth in the 2024 championship.
“Defendants suggest that Plaintiffs’ drivers’ concerns are insincere and they won’t really leave Plaintiffs’ teams,” Bell wrote. “While the Court of course can’t completely discount that possibility, the reality of the situation for both the drivers and the Plaintiffs is clear and immediate. Absent entry of a preliminary injunction by December 18, 2024, Tyler Reddick will become a ‘free agent’ and whether or not he has a firm plan to leave 23XI, other teams will have the present ability to contract for his services (most probably for several years to protect both the team and the driver). While irreparable harm cannot be speculative, it need not be certain or have already occurred before an injunction is granted.”
Bell further stated in his ruling that a trial is expected to begin sometime before the beginning of the 2026 season. Should NASCAR choose, it can appeal Wednesday’s ruling to the U.S. Court of Appeals.
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(Photo: James Gilbert / Getty Images)
