Judicial Decision Impacts 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports
A federal judge rejected the request from 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports to continue competing with their licenses while litigating against NASCAR in court. This means that their six cars will participate in this weekend’s races in Dover and next week in Indianapolis as open participants, a situation that, according to the teams, could put their economic viability at risk. U.S. District Judge Kenneth Bell denied the teams’ request for a temporary restraining order, arguing that they will be able to compete in the coming weeks and will not lose their drivers or sponsors before a decision is made on a preliminary injunction. Bell left open the possibility of reconsidering his decision if circumstances change in the next two weeks. After this weekend, the affected cars might need to be classified by speed if 41 participants register, a possibility now that starting spots have opened.23XI, co-owned by NBA legend Michael Jordan, and FRM filed their federal lawsuit against NASCAR last year after being the only two organizations out of 15 that rejected NASCAR’s license extension offer.We are disappointed that the court did not grant 23XI and Front Row Motorsports a temporary restraining order to allow the teams to continue competing as licensed teams. We remain confident that our request for a preliminary injunction is legally justified and necessary, and we look forward to the court’s full review.
Jeffrey Kessler, attorney for the teams
The trial is scheduled for December 1st, but the two teams are fighting to be recognized as license holders for the current season, which has 16 races remaining. A license guarantees one of the 40 grid positions each week, in addition to a base amount of money paid each week. Jordan and FRM owner Bob Jenkins obtained a court order to recognize 23XI and FRM as license holders for the season, but the decision was overturned on appeal earlier this month, returning the case to Bell. Denny Hamlin, three-time Daytona 500 winner and 23XI co-owner with Jordan, stated that they were prepared to send Tyler Reddick, Bubba Wallace, and Riley Herbst to the track each week as open teams. They requested the restraining order on Monday, alleging that through discovery they learned that NASCAR planned to immediately begin the process of selling the six licenses, which would put “the plaintiffs in irreparable danger of never recovering their licenses and going bankrupt.” Judge Bell wrote: “This is a fair and significant fear; however, NASCAR has agreed that ‘it will not sell any licenses before the court can rule on the plaintiffs’ request for a preliminary injunction.’ Similarly, the plaintiffs fear that denying them guaranteed entry to the grid for the upcoming races could negatively affect their competitive position, including their ability to earn a playoff spot. Once again, legitimate, potentially irreparable damage. However, similar to the sale of licenses, NASCAR represents to the court that all of the plaintiffs’ cars will be classified (if they choose to race) for the races in Dover and Indianapolis that will take place over the next 14 days.” It won’t be a problem to get into the grid this weekend at Dover, as there are less than 40 cars entered. But if 41 cars show up at any point this season, someone slow will be sent home, which means lost revenue and a missed opportunity to earn points in the standings. Reddick was the regular season champion last year and competed for the Cup Series championship in the season finale. But none of the six drivers affected by the court decision are qualified for this year’s playoffs.We made the decision to file this lawsuit to challenge NASCAR’s monopolistic practices and intimidation tactics, and we are not going to allow them to push our teams, or others, out of the sport they love. We are confident in the merits of our case and the teams remain focused on competing this weekend and continuing their momentum towards the playoffs.
Statement by Jeffrey Kessler
