Here’s What Happened in the 23XI/FRM vs. NASCAR Lawsuit This Week (May 17-23)

The antitrust lawsuit case between 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports versus NASCAR took a rare pause in all courts for a week, before ramping back up in the last five days. The teams involved in the lawsuit dropped a motion in another court, while the teams not involved officially gave their perspective. 

Here’s a look at what happened this week:

• On May 19, 23XI/FRM dismissed their motion to compel filed against INDYCAR in the Indiana Southern District Court.
  • The teams have now dismissed these motions to compel against Liberty Media and IndyCar, but they still have filings in New York for the NBA, NFL, and NHL to compel. Nothing has changed there since May 9.
• Both sides have added numerous attorneys via “pro hac vice,” which means they are asking for permission for out-of-state counsel to join in representing their group.
  • 23XI/FRM requested to add three people on May 19, while the NASCAR side requested four on May 23.
  • Each of these motions were granted.

• On May 22, the Race Team Alliance filed what is called an amicus curae brief. This is when a person or group who is not a party in the case can submit a filing that adds additional information that they want the court to consider in their ruling.
• The 125-page brief “provides the non-party teams’ perspective on this issue,” and it was submitted “on behalf of 13 of its members, which are racing teams that are not parties to this case.” It was accepted.
• Of interest, 23XI/FRM consented to the filing of the RTA brief. NASCAR, on the other hand, had a slightly more complicated response:
  • “To the extent that the proposed [brief] is on behalf of the charter holders who are non-parties to the litigation, NASCAR consents. But NASCAR lacks sufficient information to take a position on RTA’s brief if it advocates on behalf of [23XI/FRM], who are also members of the RTA.”

• The point of the brief is to clarify that the non-party teams cannot be joined as parties in the lawsuit, and they gave a few reasons.
  • For starters, these 13 teams signed the 2025 charter agreement, which prohibits the teams from filing a lawsuit. This was a point heavily discussed in the oral arguments in appeals court, covered in our previous update.
  • The teams also said that joining at this point would “require a complete re-working of the case schedule” and would impact the 2026 Cup Series season.
• The reason the RTA submitted this brief was not to take sides, but it was because they have been named by NASCAR as “co-conspirators” in its counterclaim against 23XI/FRM and Curtis Polk.
• The teams submitted this brief to try and ensure that they do not get added as a group into the lawsuit.