NASCAR issues forceful response to court over 23XI, Front Row request to reclaim charter status

Citing “no logical basis” for 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports to be granted a temporary restraining order to compete as chartered teams, NASCAR issued a forceful response in court documents Wednesday.

NASCAR also alleged in court documents that the two teams “manufactured evidence of harm” when requesting a previous preliminary injunction.

This is the third time 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports have sought court intervention to race as chartered teams this season without signing the agreement.

23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports were the only two Cup organizations not to sign the charter agreement and later filed an antitrust lawsuit against NASCAR and NASCAR CEO Jim France. That lawsuit is scheduled to begin Dec. 1.

23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports filed documents Monday seeking a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction to race as chartered teams — as they had done all season until that status was revoked recently by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Sunday’s race at Dover Motor Speedway would be the first time 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports would compete without charter status, pending the U.S. District Court’s ruling. No timetable has been set for the court’s decision, although it is expected before Sunday’s race.

23XI Racing employs drivers Tyler Reddick, Bubba Wallace and Riley Herbst. Front Row Motorsports’ drivers are Todd Gilliland, Noah Gragson and Zane Smith.

A charter guarantees a car a starting spot in every race. That won’t matter this weekend at Dover. There won’t be a full 40-car field. Only 37 cars are entered.

NASCAR stated in court documents that there will be no more than 40 cars entered next week at Indianapolis. That would mean that all three 23XI Racing and all three Front Row Motorsports cars would not be in jeopardy of missing that race should the court not grant their request to run with the charter status.

Charters also provide a fixed and guaranteed amount of money that is significantly more than a team without a charter receives.

Under the system, money awarded to chartered teams is based on:

— Race performance (race purse).

— Performance for the season (year-end points fund).

— Overall performance over the previous three seasons (historical plan).

— Payments for being a charter member and competing in each race (fixed owner’s plan).

Teams have 14 days to petition the court for a rehearing.

In court documents Monday, 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports stated that losing their charter status would cause “irreparable harm.” The teams cited “new information surfaced through the discovery process” that made this third request relevant.

The teams stated in court documents that NASCAR has “signaled its intention to immediately move or sell (their) charters to other entities — putting (23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports) in irreparable jeopardy of never getting their charters back and going out of business.”

NASCAR denied that claim in its filing Wednesday, stating: “Although based on the false premise that Plaintiffs have Charters, and notwithstanding the substantial interest in Charters from motorsports companies racing in INDYCAR, Xfinity, and other series, NASCAR has represented it will not sell any Charters before the Court can rule on Plaintiffs’ motion for preliminary injunction.”

The teams also stated in their filing Monday: “As the Court has already found, it is not economically viable for a team to participate in the Cup Series on a long-term basis racing under an “open” agreement.

“Moreover, if Plaintiffs are forced to relinquish their charters before trial, they once again will face the prospect of losing key sponsors and star drivers, who will have the right to terminate their contracts and have already signaled their intention to pursue driving opportunities with other teams (should Plaintiffs lose their charter rights).”

NASCAR stated in the documents that the charters do not belong to 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports since they did not sign the agreement for each of their cars.

The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals denied a request for rehearing, meaning 23XI and Front Row could be classified as open teams ahead of the July 20 Dover race.

NASCAR noted throughout its 32-page response the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision to vacate the preliminary injunction the two teams were granted last December to run with the charter status.

NASCAR also raised questions about the information 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports provided when asking the District Court to grant a preliminary injunction last year.

In court documents, NASCAR stated: “Discovery has revealed that evidence Plaintiffs submitted to the Court in connection with their second (preliminary injunction) motion was manufactured. It has also shown that declarations submitted under penalty of perjury suggesting that Plaintiffs had no involvement in the creation of that evidence were false.”

NASCAR also stated in court documents: “ … And Plaintiffs manufactured evidence of harm to support their second (preliminary injunction) motion, and misled the Court in declarations. This means that Plaintiffs’ latest submissions should, at the very least, be viewed skeptically.”

A recent decision by a federal appellant panel could lead to 23XI Racing becoming an open team in the next few weeks.

23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports first requested a preliminary injunction to race with charter status last fall. That was denied by U.S. District Court judge Frank D. Whitney on Nov. 8, 2024.

The teams amended their request. A preliminary injunction was granted Dec. 18, 2024, by U.S. District Court judge Kenneth D. Bell for 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports to compete this season with the charter status.

NASCAR appealed the decision to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. A three-judge panel from that circuit heard oral arguments May 9 and vacated the preliminary injunction June 5. The two teams asked the full Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals to hear the matter. The court declined on July 9.

That set up this week’s filings with16 races left in the Cup season — beginning with Sunday’s event at Dover.

NASCAR noted in court documents that 23XI Racing co-owner Michael Jordan stated in a deposition that his organization would compete the rest of the season even if it didn’t have the charter status. That echos comments co-owner Denny Hamlin made to the media June 7 at Michigan.

NASCAR cited Jordan’s deposition elsewhere in its response. NASCAR stated in court documents that Jordan “conditioned 23XI’s long-term participation in NASCAR on the implementation of a permanent Charter system.”

That was an item teams wanted when negotiating with NASCAR but did not get. Instead, the current charters go seven seasons through the 2031 campaign — the same length of the current media rights deal — with the option extend the charters another seven years.