For a couple dozen residents of North Carolina’s Mecklenburg County, Monday, Dec. 1, started as a normal day.
I use the term normal loosely.
At some point in the last few weeks, these people received a notice in the mail informing them they’d been chosen to take part in a time-honored American tradition: jury duty.
On Dec. 1, they would have to get up early in the morning and trudge down to the U.S. District Court in Charlotte, N.C., and face their fate.
Read all of Frontstretch‘s content covering the NASCAR vs. 23XI/FRM antitrust lawsuit here
What kind of case would they get? What matter that falls under the scrutiny of the federal courts would they be asked pass a verdict on?
Murder? Larceny? Extortion?
Surely it would be something simple that would allow them to return to their daily lives relatively quickly, with no fuss.
At what point do you think this group of people realized they were not in the running for a normal court case? Odds are good it was when they got over the shock of sharing the same room with His Airness, Michael Jordan.
Over the course of time Monday, those two dozen-or-so people were whittled down to nine to take part in the highly anticipated antitrust lawsuit trial pitting NASCAR against 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports.
(As an aside, pour one out for FRM. Despite competing in NASCAR since 2004 and having a Daytona 500 win, it’s been largely left out of the conversation surrounding the lawsuit, often referred to as some form of “another team.”)
But there’s a reason why Jordan was the one chosen to represent 23XI in the courtroom.
It’s his name in all the headlines. And it gets moments like this, as the jury pool was whittled down.
The jury selection will probably wind up being the most entertaining part of this whole affair.
At some point someone with a love — or past love — of NASCAR was going to have to be weeded out.
However, it wasn’t as if everyone who walked into the courtroom Monday had a clue about what was going with the sport.
As it’s been noted over the years, the Charlotte area has become largely a banking center made up of transplants to the area. There’s a reason Charlotte is never listed among the top cities in viewership for NASCAR’s TV ratings. If you’re worried about a tainted jury pool of NASCAR devotees, hold the trial in Winston-Salem, N.C.
Anyway, there was bound to be at least a couple of NASCAR fans who showed up Monday, only to be dismissed.
We weren’t disappointed.
I really want to know what the day was like for that Hendrick Motorsports fan. They had to know there was a chance — with their jury duty notice coming up on Dec. 1 — they might be considered for the NASCAR trial.
Then there was this guy.
How badly do you think Jim France and Lesa France Kennedy — both present in the courtroom — winced at the “NASCAR is killing NASCAR” line? Woof.
But the jury is now set. For at least nine more days, nine jurors who likely have no knowledge about antitrust law and have never heard the word charter as it pertains to sports will have to sit through hours of testimony about a sport they don’t watch and don’t think about.
The judge in the case has already ruled that NASCAR is a monopoly. Now nine strangers will have to decide if NASCAR and the France family have used their monopoly in illegal ways.
If they do so, it will be to the judge to determine what happens to the most popular motorsports league in the country.
No pressure, jurors! Just go out there and have a good time.
It’s not like an entire sport’s future is at stake.
But there really is no pressure since they obviously don’t watch, care, nor even know about NASCAR or racing (or sports in general if they don’t know who MJ is). Whatever they decide they will care not what happens afterward, because they never cared to begin with. I’m sure they’ll try to do what’s fair and right, but I doubt any of them will become fans after the case is closed.