NASCAR: Judge Orders Financial Data of Teams to Be Revealed, Key in Litigation

Federal Judge Orders NASCAR Teams to Disclose Financial Data

In a recent legal development, a federal judge has issued an order requiring twelve NASCAR teams to provide financial data from eleven years to the racing series. The decision, made on Wednesday, is part of an ongoing legal battle, although the judge limited the scope of the information to be shared. Judge Kenneth Bell, of the Western District of North Carolina, made this determination after hearing arguments from both sides. The magistrate noted that the requested information “will allow NASCAR to obtain much of the relevant information while protecting the legitimate interests” of the twelve teams. These teams had expressed concern about the possibility of their private financial data becoming public, which could affect their competitiveness.

The court order specifies that the teams must provide high-level data, including total revenue, total costs, and net profit and loss, from 2014. In addition, the teams and NASCAR were ordered to agree on an independent accounting firm to manage the details, with a deadline of Friday, and for NASCAR to cover the costs. At the beginning of the week, the lawyers of twelve of the fifteen racing teams argued against the disclosure of their financial records as part of NASCAR’s antitrust lawsuit. These teams are not part of the lawsuit filed by 23XI Racing, owned by NBA Hall of Famer Michael Jordan, and three-time Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin, and Front Row Motorsports, owned by businessman Bob Jenkins. 23XI and Front Row are the only two organizations out of fifteen that refused to sign a new proposal for a statute agreement last September. The statutes are NASCAR’s version of a franchise model, guaranteeing entry to the lucrative Cup Series races and a stable flow of income. Of the 13 teams that did sign, only Kaulig Racing has submitted the financial documents requested by NASCAR as part of the discovery. The teams have long argued that NASCAR is not financially viable and that they need a greater flow of revenue and a more permanent duration of 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.