3 times NASCAR got into legal proceedings in the Federal Court

NASCAR has made plenty of headlines over the years with regard to legal cases, some even ending up in federal court. In light of the racing association's current situation with Michael Jordan's 23XI and the Front Row Motorsports teams over the new charter agreement, some have predicted potential legal proceedings could be resorted to.

Meanwhile, a lawsuit was recently filed against NASCAR, concerning the death of an engineer in Chicago. Let's look at some of the legal proceedings involving NASCAR.

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Wrongful death lawsuit against NASCAR

After the death of an engineer named Duane E. Tabinski in 2023, a lawsuit was filed against NASCAR and various partners in Illinois. According to a report on Law.com, Tabinski died due to electrocution while working at the Chicago street racing event held in June 2023.

According to the report, the contractor was working on the pre-race stage and racetrack equipment near Buckingham Fountain in Chicago. They added that a lack of safety measures led to his death which could be avoided. The lawsuit seeking $50,000 in damages was filed in Cook County Circuit Court.

NASCAR's dispute with Kentucky Speedway

In 2005, the former owner of the Kentucky Speedway race track filed an antitrust lawsuit against the racing association and the International Speedway Corp. for excluding the track from the Cup Series. After repetitive tries, the former owners sued the stock car racing association and demanded $200 million for the damages.

The Kentucky Speedway alleged that the racing association conspired to exclude Sparta track despite top-notch facilities.

However, in 2009, the US 6th Circut Court of Appeals found that the former owner of the Kentucky Speedway race track failed to prove their claims in court, and the racing association won the case. The court didn't find enough evidence to support Kentucky Speedway's claim and allowed the racing association to choose tracks. However, their legal efforts didn't go in vain, as the Sprint Cup Series was held at the Sparta track in 2011.

AT&T files a lawsuit for rebranding

In 2007, AT&T and the Stock Car Racing Association had a dispute over changing the logo on Jeff Burton's # 31 car. AT&T had acquired BellSouth Corp at the time, and the latter's brands included Cingular Wireless. They wanted to replace the Cingular logo with their own.

However, NASCAR prevented them from doing so because it was in an exclusive sponsorship with Sprint Nextel, a competitor of AT&T. Things didn't go smoothly for AT&T this time.

Previously, a lower court barred the stock car racing association from interfering with AT&T but the 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the decision. AT&T lost the right to rebrand the #31 car as NASCAR won the case.

These are just a few of the lawsuits filed against the Stock Car Racing Association over the years. Currently, everyone's eyes are on the situation concerning 23XI Racing and FRM's decision. Both teams have not signed on to the new charter due to costly rule changes, intellectual property rights, and team-driver relationships.