We Walk on Untrodden Ground

1. 23XI Racing, Front Row Motorsports are taking NASCAR to court. What now?

In unprecedented news, it was announced on Oct. 2 that 23XI Racing and Front Row Racing were jointly suing NASCAR in an antitrust lawsuit, citing “anti-competitive practices to prevent fair competition in the sport,” among other reasons. FRM and 23XI were the lone holdouts that didn’t sign NASCAR’s 2025-2031 charter agreement in early September, and this legal battle is now heading to the courthouse.

Getting a new charter deal squared away has been of the utmost concern since the start of the year, but not just for sake of getting it done. It’s vital to get a charter deal squared away that both NASCAR and all the teams can agree on, and all season it’s been impasse after impasse. Now, things are going to get ugly before they get any better.

It would be splendid if there was a crystal ball that would tell us how and when everything will get resolved, but not one person has the answer. We don’t know what’s next, and we are currently in unprecedented times.

Unprecedented because we’ve yet to see conflict between the teams and the sanctioning body to this degree.

Throughout all its history, NASCAR has had the final say. When Curtis Turner and Tim Flock attempted to form a driver’s union in 1961, they were initially banned for life. When the biggest teams and drivers in the sport refused to race in the inaugural 1969 event at Talladega over safety concerns, the show went on with new teams and drivers taking their place.

Now, its fate rests in the court of law.

To even get to this point, 23XI and FRM had to play with fire. By refusing to sign the 2025-2031 charter agreement at NASCAR’s self-imposed deadline, they ran the risk of losing their charters entirely.

Clearly, it was a risk they were willing to take and a fight they were willing to bring.

In simplistic terms, this can go one of three ways: the two parties agree to a settlement or the court rules in favor of one side over the other.

Given NASCAR’s position as a private company, its books would be made public in the event of a court case. If that’s something it wants to avoid, a settlement would be the most likely option. But if the case goes to court with a judge’s ruling, what will happen in either scenario?

If the case is ruled in NASCAR’s favor, what will happen to the teams that took it to court? If the case is ruled in the teams’ favor, how…