BROOKLYN, Mich. — 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports suffered a major setback on Thursday (June 5), as the U.S. Court of Appeals overturned the injunction that allowed them to compete as chartered teams in the midst of their lawsuit against NASCAR.
It will be at least two weeks until the ruling is implemented, as the teams can request a rehearing. However, if the ruling stands, the teams could be forced to run as unchartered entries by the end of June.
In Saturday’s (June 7) media sessions at Michigan International Speedway, the 23XI drivers had no comment on the ruling, instead electing to focus on racing, Michigan and the upcoming weeks of the schedule.
“What did Kyle Busch say (in 2017)?” Bubba Wallace asked. “‘I’m here so I don’t get fined’ and ‘everything’s great, right?’
“… You can let Denny [Hamlin] comment on that stuff there; you’re not going to get an answer that you want to hear from me.”
Tyler Reddick took a similar approach.
“The only [comment] I have is I’m going to keep doing my part to try and show up as prepared as possible and continue winning races,” Reddick said. “The owners are keeping me updated as everything’s going on, but aside from that, I got to stay focused on what I can control.”
Drivers from the FRM camp elected to plead the fifth as well.
“The rest we leave up to lawyers, our race team management, everyone else,” Todd Gilliland said. “That’s been my whole goal for the whole year, is keep my team very focused on the job at hand and the work we can do ourselves and kind of leave the rest up to everyone else.”
Zane Smith had “nothing to add,” saying “my focus is on this weekend here in Michigan.”
Hamlin, co-owner of 23XI, said the price of running three open teams without charters would be in the “tens of millions.” That said, Hamlin reiterated 23XI’s commitment to running every race, regardless of the price.
“What we said in December is that we’re committed to run this season open if we have to, even before they decided on the injunction,” Hamlin recalled. “So we’re going to race and fulfill all of our commitments no matter what. We’re here to race. Our team’s going to be here for the long haul, and we’re confident of that.”
Likewise, it’s still business as usual for Airspeed — 23XI’s headquarters — and the people that work there.
“We’ve been very transparent with all of our employees during the entire process and really every time something comes along, we communicate that before it becomes public, so we’ve been very transparent,” Hamlin explained. “One of the things that we’ve remained steadfast in saying is that nothing will change in their lives, and we’re going to make sure that everyone’s taken care of. Everyone should plan on work as scheduled.”
The trial between 23XI and FRM versus NASCAR is scheduled to begin on Dec. 1. Even with the injunction reversal this week, Hamlin remains reassured in their position come wintertime.
“We remain very confident in our case for Dec. 1,” Hamlin said. “We’re confident in it. We feel like facts are on our side, and I think if you listen to the judges, even they mentioned that we might be in pretty good shape.
“… [Michael Jordan] remains very confident, just like I do. … The facts are the facts, and they’ll come out in December.”
Stephen Stumpf is the NASCAR Content Director for Frontstretch and is a three-year veteran of the site. His weekly column is “Stat Sheet,” and he formerly wrote "4 Burning Questions" for three years. He also writes commentaries, contributes to podcasts, edits articles and is frequently at the track for on-site coverage.
Find Stephen on Twitter @stephen_stumpf