Federal Judge Orders NASCAR Teams to Disclose Financial Data
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – A federal judge issued an order on Wednesday that compels twelve NASCAR teams to hand over eleven years of financial data to the racing series. This decision is part of an ongoing legal dispute, although limits were set on the information to be shared.
After hearing arguments from both sides, Judge Kenneth Bell of the Western District of North Carolina determined that this information will allow NASCAR to access the relevant data while protecting the legitimate interests of the teams. These teams had expressed concern about the possibility of their private financial data becoming public, which could affect the competitive balance.Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan, owners of 23XI Racing, along with other teams, are in a legal battle with NASCAR.The court order specifies that the teams must provide key data, including total revenue, total costs, profits and net losses, from the year 2014. In addition, the teams and NASCAR were ordered to agree on an independent accounting firm to manage the details before Friday, with the costs covered by NASCAR.
At the beginning of the week, the lawyers of twelve of the fifteen racing teams argued against the disclosure of their financial records, which are part of NASCAR’s antitrust lawsuit. These teams are not part of the lawsuit filed by 23XI Racing, owned by Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin, and Front Row Motorsports, owned by Bob Jenkins.
23XI and Front Row are the only two organizations out of fifteen that refused to sign a new charter agreement last September. The charters are NASCAR’s franchise model, guaranteeing entry into the lucrative Cup races and a stable revenue stream. Of the thirteen teams that did sign, only Kaulig Racing has submitted the financial documents required by NASCAR as part of the discovery process.
The teams have long argued that NASCAR is not financially viable and that they need higher revenues and greater permanence in the charter agreements, which currently have expiration dates and can be revoked by NASCAR. Two years of negotiations ended last fall with the signing of 13 teams, while 23IX and FRM chose to go to court.
