With less than a month until NASCAR Cup Series vehicles hit the track at Bowman Gray Stadium, the courtroom battle between 23XI Racing/Front Row Motorsports and NASCAR wages on. Here’s everything that took place in the suit over the last week.
- On Jan. 8, a hearing was held in district court regarding NASCAR’s motion to dismiss the anti-trust suit. The hearing also dealt with whether or not 23XI and Front Row would have to post bond to cover charter money that the organizations would have to return, should they ultimately lose the case.
- On Jan. 10, it was announced that NASCAR’s motion to dismiss the anti-trust suit was denied, as was the motion for bond requested by the sanctioning body.
- In court documents, the following explanation was provided for the judge’s decision:
Why the judge is denying the NASCAR motion to dismiss at this stage of the lawsuit: pic.twitter.com/KVpIKoAxIx
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) January 10, 2025
- Following the decision, 23XI Racing, Front Row Motorsports and representative Jeffrey Kessler put out the following statement: “We are pleased with today’s decision by Judge Bell to deny the Motions to Dismiss and Motion for Bond and look forward to presenting our case at trial.”
- In Bell’s Jan. 10 ruling, he noted that the amount of fixed pool money awarded annually to chartered teams will be $5 million per entry in 2025.
Get rid of charters. They are nothing more than buying starting positions and are not fair to teams without an “in” with NASCAR.