Judge denies NASCAR request to dismiss lawsuit by 23XI Racing, Front Row Motorsports

A federal judge denied a request Friday by NASCAR and NASCAR Chairman Jim France to dismiss the lawsuit against them by 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports.

Both teams did not sign charter agreements with NASCAR and filed an antitrust lawsuit Oct. 2 against NASCAR and France.

The order Friday by U.S. District Judge Kenneth D. Bell came after he heard arguments from both sides in court Wednesday.

Bell wrote in his order: “The parties to this action cast their existential dispute in starkly different terms. According to Plaintiffs, NASCAR (led by the dynastic France family) is the iron-fisted monopolistic ruler of premier stock car racing that has imposed “anticompetitive ‘take it or leave it’ terms” on Plaintiffs and other top-tier racing teams.

“In Defendants’ telling, NASCAR and the France family are the founders and guiding lights of a beloved and valuable racing series, who have fairly negotiated mutually beneficial “Charter Agreements” that reflect reasonable commercial terms between NASCAR and the race teams.

“What is the actual evidence and how does it inform a correct legal conclusion? These questions cannot be determined on motions to dismiss in this action, where Plaintiffs have sufficiently alleged one or more plausible antitrust claims against Defendants within the applicable period of limitations.

“Instead, the answers must be found when the parties have a full opportunity to pursue discovery of the relevant facts and then at trial, where the jury will be able to weigh the evidence and assess the credibility of the witnesses (unless the case is resolved sooner by the parties or the Court). Therefore, the Court will DENY the Defendants’ Motions to Dismiss.”

When and where are NASCAR Cup, Xfinity, Truck races in 2025 and how to watch them

Joey Logano seeks to defend his Cup title in 2024.

The judge also denied NASCAR’s request that both 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports post a bond “in excess of $10 million for each car being allowed to race based on the harm it alleges it will suffer in being forced to do so under the charter terms.”

The court previously ruled for a preliminary injunction that will allow 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports to run all three of its cars as charter cars despite not signing the agreement in September. NASCAR has appealed the preliminary injunction.

Bell wrote in his order against the bond: “The alleged harm to NASCAR of allowing Plaintiffs to race chartered cars on the same terms as the other 30 chartered teams is presently both uncertain and unquantified. Therefore, the Court, in its discretion, will waive the security requirement of Rule 65(c) and will not require Plaintiffs to post a bond for the issuance of the Preliminary Injunctions.

“However, by this ruling, the Court does not foreclose NASCAR’s ability to later pursue reimbursement for harm it contends that it has suffered as a result of a wrongfully entered injunction.”

The court has set Dec. 1 as the start of the trial.