The antitrust lawsuit case between 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports vs. NASCAR will soon return to the Fourth Circuit, this time hearing NASCAR’s appeal to the ruling from Judge Kenneth D. Bell granting the preliminary injunction for the teams.
Before the appeal can take place, however, NASCAR and the teams did a little work over the holidays to get their ducks in a row, which will hopefully help speed up the process.
Here’s everything that took place over the last two weeks.
- Kicking things off Monday, Dec. 23, 23XI/FRM submitted a response to NASCAR’s motion for a partial stay that would prevent the Stewart-Haas Racing charter transfers.
- The filing said the NASCAR side is “simply rearguing – but louder – the same points the court has already heard and properly rejected.”
- In an extra-intriguing, partially redacted page, the teams mentioned NASCAR had “‘multiple questions’ about 23XI’s ‘compliance with the Team Owner and Control Person requirements of the charter.’” The teams claim NASCAR is trying to justify “whether 23XI’s owners are ‘Prohibited Persons’ who cannot own a NASCAR charter agreement.”
- The teams brought up complimentary quotes from NASCAR President Steve Phelps showing Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin are “the exact opposite of a Prohibited Person,” adding that “the only reason [NASCAR] “have now claimed they may consider the owners of 23XI to be Prohibited Persons is because they have asserted their antitrust rights and filed this lawsuit.”
- The court denied NASCAR’s requested stay after the teams’ response. The judge did clarify that the requirement to approve the SHR charter transfer only covered the FRM request.
- 23XI/FRM released this statement:
Statement from 23XI and Front Row Motorsports ownership. pic.twitter.com/fcb2S4U4N5
— 23XI Racing (@23XIRacing) December 23, 2024
- The next document in the order is NASCAR’s appeal filing. It was filed Dec. 20 but entered Dec. 23.
- NASCAR and Jim France also entered another motion to dismiss.
- On Christmas Eve, Dec. 24, NASCAR and the teams agreed to an injunction that would approve the SHR charter transfer to 23XI as well. This step will keep 23XI from having to file another request for an injunction, helping speed things along.
- The district court granted the extra injunction on Dec. 26.
- On New Year’s Eve, Dec. 31, FRM announced it finally purchased the charter from SHR.
Big news for 2025. pic.twitter.com/8HlYzoolw3
— Front Row Motorsports (@Team_FRM) December 31, 2024
- Wednesday (Jan. 1), FRM officially announced its third driver as Zane Smith, finalizing its full driver and number lineup two days later with Smith going to the No. 38 and Noah Gragson in the No. 4 for 2025.
Guess who's back? @ZaneSmith will return to FRM to drive the No. 38 for the 2025 season. pic.twitter.com/rzv2iG93Zi
— Front Row Motorsports (@Team_FRM) January 2, 2025
Familiar faces in new places. @NoahGragson and Drew Blickensderfer will reunite to form the new No. 4 team. pic.twitter.com/yvY0AFy9d9
— Front Row Motorsports (@Team_FRM) January 3, 2025
- Jan. 3, 23XI/FRM also filed an opposition to a sealed motion from NASCAR Dec. 19, the day after the injunction was granted. According to the teams, NASCAR asked that the teams have to pay a bond to NASCAR should they win the case.
- Part of NASCAR’s claim was that they would suffer harm if they paid out pool money to the teams suing them. If NASCAR wins, they would not get the money back.
- The teams argued that the pool money payments are not a gift for charter teams, but they are “for the season-long obligations the teams undertake to NASCAR.” This includes teams competing in all the races, granting their intellectual property rights to NASCAR and participating in media promotions.
- The teams added that NASCAR “will suffer no harm from the injunction” and asked the court to deny the bond outright, or leave it at a $500 maximum bond.
- While that all took place in the district court, Jan. 3 also included some more activity for NASCAR’s appeal in the Fourth Circuit District Court. Most of it is pretty much just typical paperwork, but there were a few interesting nuggets.
- The NASCAR side noted that, as of right now, a settlement is not being discussed, and its official issue on appeal is “whether the district court erred as a matter of law in entering mandatory preliminary injunctions that force NASCAR into contractual relationships.”
- NASCAR’s opening brief of the appeal is due Feb. 12 at the latest. The 23XI/FRM response brief is due by March 14.
About the author
Caleb began sports writing in 2023 with The Liberty Champion, where he officially covered his first NASCAR race at Richmond in the spring. While there, Caleb met some of the guys from Frontstretch, and he joined the video editing team after graduating from Liberty University with degrees in Strategic Communications and Sports Journalism. Caleb currently work full-time as a Multi-Media Journalist with LEX 18 News in Lexington, Kentucky and contributes to Frontstretch with writing and video editing. He's also behind-the-scenes or on camera for the Happy Hour Podcast, live every Tuesday night at 7:30!
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