23XI and FRM receives major boost in their lawsuit against NASCAR, get open team agreement

In an unprecedented move in motorsports' history, NASCAR will allow 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports to compete in the 2025 season by removing the anti-competitive release requirement from the open race team agreement. The news, shared by both teams via a press release, was re-posted by senior journalist Bob Pockrass on X.

Earlier in October, the Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin co-owned 23XI Racing and Bob Jenkins' Front Row Motorsports filed a federal antitrust lawsuit against NASCAR. The issue, which revolves around the new charter agreement, caused friction between the teams and the sanctioning body. With the disagreement escalating, 23XI and FRM missed out on signing the new Charters, jeopardizing their ability to compete in the 2025 season.

After losing the first battle in the court, both teams now have found some relief with NASCAR agreeing to the anticompetitive release requirement in its open agreement. 23XI Racing shared the news on X through a press release.

Here's a look at the post, captioned:

"Statement from 23XI and Front Row Motorsports ownership."

Apart from the teams, senior NASCAR journalist Pockrass also put a clarification of the press release on his X page. Take a look at his post, with a summary of the press document in caption:

"NASCAR will let 23XI and Front Row sign the open race team agreement and pursue lawsuit. NASCAR will not enforce clause in open agreement that releases NASCAR of certain legal claims. Appeal to preliminary injunction continues for the same conditions to sign charter agreement."

Jeffrey Kessler, attorney for 23XI and FRM, also mentioned that they will continue their appeal to the 4th Circuit to issue an injunction. If approved, both teams stand a chance to run as a chartered team would, receiving full-monetory benefits as they did before.

---

"Irreparable harm has already begun" - 23XI and FRM's recent court filing claims both teams face risk of losing sponsors, drivers

23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports lost the injunction to compete as a chartered team earlier in October. However, both teams have appealed to the 4th Circuit to issue an injunction to avoid losses.

23XI and FRM have claimed that they risk facing "irreparable harm" in their latest court filing (as reported by Newsweek).

"The 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season commences with the first race on February 2, 2025. Without the injunction, (23XI/FRM) will be forced to make a Hobson's choice: either risk releasing their antitrust rights in this action or be out of business from competing as premier stock car racing teams. The district court denied (23XI/FRM)'s motion, and now (the teams) face immediate irreparable harm if they do not receive this court's expedited review of the district court's decision," the statement reads, as per the latest filing.

"That irreparable harm has already begun because [23XI/FRM] cannot assure sponsors, drivers, and fans that they will be able to compete as chartered teams in 2025 – a condition that puts those critical relationships with sponsors, drivers, and fans at immediate risk," the statement continued.

Despite the challenges, NASCAR has agreed to allow both 23XI and FRM to compete in the 2025 season as open teams.