23XI Racing and FRM suing NASCAR for “anti-competitive practices”

On Wednesday morning, two NASCAR teams — Front Row Motorsports and 23XI (co-owned by Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin) — filed a joint antitrust lawsuit against NASCAR accusing the sport’s governing body, run by the dynastic France family, of “anti-competitive and monopolistic control of the sport.” Both teams had publicly stated issues with NASCAR’s new charter agreement, which both teams refused to sign.

This jointly-filed lawsuit is an escalation after months of back-and-forth between the teams and NASCAR leadership. 

“We share a passion for racing, the thrill of competition, and winning,” read the joint statement. “Off the racetrack, we share a belief that change is necessary for the sport we love. Together, we brought this antitrust case so that racing can thrive and become a more competitive and fair sport in ways that will benefit teams, drivers, sponsors, and, most importantly, fans.”

Challenging NASCAR’s monopolistic control of the sport

The release went on to accuse NASCAR of operating without transparency, stifling competition, and controlling the sport in ways that “unfairly benefit them at the expense of team owners, drivers, sponsors, partners, and fans.” The France family has been in full control of the sport since its founding in 1948.

Front Row Motorsport and 23XI included a list of what they called anti-competitive practices from NASCAR leadership:

• Buying a majority of the premier racetracks that are exclusive to NASCAR races
• Imposing exclusivity deals on NASCAR-sanctioned racetracks
• Acquiring Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA), the only notable stock car racing series competitor
• Preventing teams from participating in any other stock car races, while also retaining ownership over Next Gen parts and cars
• Forcing teams to buy their parts from single-source suppliers chosen by NASCAR

23XI Racing was founded by NBA legend Michael Jordan and three-time Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin in 2020, while Front Row Motorsports (FRM) has been owned by Bob Jenkins since 2005. Each team runs two full-time cars, with FRM recently announcing plans to expand to three under an agreement to purchase a charter from the defunct Stewart-Haas Racing.

23XI and FRM’s next move

NASCAR originally implemented a charter agreement in 2016 with this latest deal supposed to last from 2025 through 2031. 13 of the 15…