NASCAR Teams and Legal Dispute: Michael Jordan at the Center of Controversy
The controversy in the American motorsports world intensifies. Two NASCAR teams, one of which is owned by the legendary NBA player Michael Jordan, have presented arguments before a federal judge. They seek to maintain their recognition as organizations with statutes, while the antitrust lawsuit they filed against the racing series continues. The 11-page legal document, filed in the United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina, responds to NASCAR’s decision not to redistribute any statute to new participants, as the case moves towards the December 1st trial date. This NASCAR stance came after a tense hearing, where emails and text messages with explicit language were revealed, coming from Jordan and other high-profile plaintiffs. 23XI Racing, the team of Jordan and Denny Hamlin, three-time Daytona 500 winner, along with Front Row Motorsports, owned by Bob Jenkins, are suing NASCAR for antitrust claims related to the charter system. A charter is similar to a franchise and guarantees the cars that own it a place in the race each week, as well as a significantly larger portion of the payments. After two years of negotiations, NASCAR presented the teams with its final offer on the statute extensions. Thirteen organizations signed the agreements, but 23XI and Front Row refused. Initially, the two teams obtained a preliminary injunction to be recognized as teams with charters for this season, until a verdict was issued in the antitrust allegations. However, this was revoked, and currently 23XI and FRM compete as “open” teams. NASCAR seeks to recover the money that was paid to the teams during the part of the season in which they had charters. The teams have also appealed for their charter status to be restored, but NASCAR argued in court that it has a buyer interested in one of the six charters previously in the possession of 23XI and FRM, and plans to redistribute the charters immediately. Judge Bell is expected to issue a ruling on the preliminary injunction this week. NASCAR maintains that by refraining from redistributing the charters, 23XI and FRM are no longer at risk of suffering irreparable harm. The teams argued that the threat still exists “due to the risk of claims for breach of contract from their irreplaceable drivers and the loss of sponsors in the absence of charter rights.” Tyler Reddick, from 23XI, has a clause in his contract stating that the team would be in breach if his Toyota doesn’t have a statute. Jeffrey Kessler, the lawyer for both teams, indicated in court that Reddick has notified 23XI about the breach. Kessler also argued that the fact that NASCAR agrees not to redistribute any statute now “does not nullify the Plaintiffs’ Motion for a Preliminary Injunction nor eliminate the Plaintiffs’ irreparable harm if relief is not granted.” The 13 teams with statutes are frustrated with the case. Judge Bell warned that the entire statute system risks collapsing if an agreement is not reached. The teams that are not suing believe their valuations are affected by the litigation. Dan Towriss, majority owner of NASCAR’s Spire Motorsports team, as well as owner of Cadillac F1, Andretti Global and other motorsports properties, expressed his “great disappointment with the direction” the lawsuit has taken.Towriss also said he would like to see NASCAR reach an agreement with 23XI and FRM.We had meetings with NASCAR’s top brass a few weeks ago and it’s ‘¿How can we help?’ What we saw [in court], what was revealed in that case, is very inconsistent with what they [NASCAR] say in private. And so I need to understand, ‘¿Who am I dealing with? What is it? Are they the people we meet with in private, or is it what they say when we’re not around?’
Dan Towriss
