NASCAR
Antitrust Trial Between NASCAR, Two Race Teams Set to Begin Monday
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The much-anticipated lawsuit between NASCAR and two race teams is almost set to go to trial. This follows over a year of curiosity and speculation from across the garage. NASCAR, 23XI Racing, and Front Row Motorsports are all making final preparations before meeting Monday. Deliberations will take place at the Federal Courthouse in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Unless there is a surprise 11th-hour shakeup, “23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports v. NASCAR” will open with jury selection and then most likely opening statements on its first day before Judge Kenneth D. Bell.
Dating back to October 2024, 23XI (co-owned by Cup Series driver Denny Hamlin and former NBA superstar Michael Jordan) and Front Row (owned by Bob Jenkins) filed suit against NASCAR. Their arguments use Sections 1 and 2 of the Sherman Antitrust Act. The plaintiffs accused the sanctioning body of anticompetitive practices following a two-plus year negotiation with all race teams for a new charter agreement that began in 2025.
The bulk of the lawsuit focuses on NASCAR’s ownership of race tracks, the exclusivity of sanctioning agreements, and the use of single-source parts in the current Next Gen racecar. In addition though, the lawsuit also revolves around the 2025 Cup Series charter agreement. 23XI and Front Row each held out by not signing this deal.
The other 13 chartered NASCAR Cup Series teams, however, are parties to this agreement. The charter system’s extension mirrors NASCAR’s seven-year television broadcast package, set to run through the end of the 2031 season. The race teams’ deal does have another seven-year extension guaranteed through 2038. The 2025 agreement also includes additional exclusive negotiating period after that timespan.
Introduced before the 2016 racing season, NASCAR’s charter system was initially created as collaboration with all Cup Series team owners. In total, 36 charters were created, ensuring starting positions in all 36 points-paying Cup races as well as higher payouts. They were given out to full-time teams at no cost.
“The France family started NASCAR in 1948 using their own resources, grit and ingenuity,” NASCAR Commissioner Steve Phelps said. “They have taken countless personal and financial risks, investing billions of dollars and untold hours into growing this sport to create opportunity for teams to race in front of fans for nearly eight decades. We are proud of what we built for fans together with the race teams, especially since the charters were introduced.”
Over the course of the past decade, the combined charters’ value has ballooned to $1.5 billion. Individual charters have recently sold for as much as $45 million. When NASCAR signed a new media deal with FOX, NBC, Turner, and Prime in 2023 for nearly $8 billion, an increase in money from the previous rights deal went to race teams under the 2025 charters. This was in addition to $50 million in other funds contributed directly from NASCAR and tracks.
In a recent filing that included testimonies from team owners who signed the charter agreement, Hendrick Motorsports owner Rick Hendrick shared the following:
“Shortly after Hendrick Motorsports signed its four charters, I made remarks to members of the press that conveyed my perspective,” Hendrick said. “I think we worked really hard for two years and it got down to, you’re not going to make everybody happy. But in any negotiation, you’re not going to get everything you want. So I felt it was a fair deal and we protected the charters, which was number one. We got the revenue increase, I feel a lot of things we didn’t like we got taken out. So I’m happy with where we were.”
“The Charter agreement is critical to the stability of the NASCAR ecosystem—the teams, the businesses that support us and NASCAR itself. Undoing what we have collectively negotiated will not only result in immeasurable damage to our sport and our respective businesses, it will, most importantly, hurt the people and families that depend on us for their livelihoods.”
NASCAR also released the following statement in response to declarations from Hendrick and other team owners. Additional owners who gave depositions included: Roger Penske, Joe Gibbs, Richard Childress and Brad Keselowski:
“Today’s filing demonstrates that NASCAR’s charter system has the support of race teams throughout the garage, and that the 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports lawsuit is not in the best interests of the sport. This lawsuit is not about antitrust; it is merely an attempt to renegotiate an agreement that was signed and is being honored by all other race teams. Together with our race team partners, we remain committed to delivering the best of stock car racing to our fans every weekend.”
Hendrick and Penske are each on NASCAR’s trial witness list. Jordan is expected to testify for the plaintiffs.
The trial follows a few significant rulings already being made. In December 2024, Bell granted a preliminary injunction that would have allowed 23XI and Front Row to race as chartered teams throughout the lawsuit. However, the Fourth District Court of Appeals vacated the injunction in June. From this point until the 2025 season concluded Nov. 2 at Phoenix Raceway, 23XI and Front Row were racing as unchartered or ‘open’ teams.
Two days after Phoenix, Bell dismissed NASCAR’s counterclaim suit. The sanctioning body had alleged that 23XI and Front Row colluded to form an “illegal cartel” with other race teams to manipulate charter negotiations.
Bell additionally granted a motion from 23XI and Front Row for partial summary judgment. He limited the lawsuit’s relevant market definition to “premier stock car racing.” NASCAR had sought a broader market definition that included other racing series.
“While we respect the Court’s decision, we believe it is legally flawed and we will address it at trial and in the Fourth Circuit if necessary,” NASCAR stated.
When trial begins on Monday, the jury will begin to decide the facts of this case under these parameters.
Written by Peter Stratta
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Photo Credits to Jared C. Tilton and Logan Riely/Getty Images
