“I’ve seen this movie before, it don’t play out real good”: Former NASCAR driver sparks concern for 23XI Racing amid fierce charter lawsuit

23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports refused to sign the new heavily disputed charter agreement set by NASCAR. Following their refusal, the teams have filed an antitrust lawsuit against it, after much negotiation. Former driver Kenny Wallace has recently expressed his opinion on the lawsuit, recollecting a conversation with veteran Tony Stewart.

23XI Racing is co-owned by NBA Hall of Famer Michael Jordan and active driver Denny Hamlin. It was founded in late 2020 and made its NASCAR debut in 2021, with Bubba Wallace driving the #23 Toyota. The team expanded to two entries when Tyler Reddick joined the #45 Camry, following a short stint by veteran Kurt Busch.

Wallace has raised concerns over 23XI and FRM's lawsuit against NASCAR, calling the move a big risk and further expressing worry about the careers of their drivers. In a recent episode of the Kenny Wallace Show, the 61-year-old said:

"You're 23XI, you're Front Row and you just took NASCAR to court by the way. You're like, 'Okay, listen NASCAR, we're suing you, we want more money and by the way, you're gonna let us keep racing in your series.' That's big boy stuff. I've seen this movie before, it don't play out real good.

Can you imagine Tyler Reddick who drives for 23XI? Can you imagine Bubba Wallace? They're out there leading the race? I just don't see it. The worst scenario is those two can't race anymore, and they have to sell their shops and get out of racing." [00:11]

Moreover, Wallace brought up a conversation he had with Tony Stewart last year where Stewart spoke about the consequences of not being in NASCAR's good books:

"If you or I pissed off NASCAR the week before, or we got under their skin or ruffled their feathers, guess what happened the very next week? Got a pit road speeding penalty. And that's how NASCAR kept the etiquette and kept the drivers in line, and kept control, and that's what we all understood."

23XI Racing and FRM have retained renowned antitrust lawyer Jeffrey Kessler to represent them in court for the case against NASCAR. Kessler has an impressive resume, as he has represented the NBA and the MLBPA, and is well known for his work on providing equal pay to the US women's soccer team.

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Denny Hamlin accuses media channel of distorting 23XI attorney's statements

23XI Racing's co-owner Denny Hamlin has recently called out a media channel for inaccurately expressing the statements made by antitrust lawyer Jeffrey Kessler.

Kessler was in conversation with Dave Moody on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90, where he explained the details of the antitrust lawsuit that has been filed against Jim France and NASCAR. However, Hamlin seems to believe Channel 90 redacted important statements from their public broadcast. Infuriated, he wrote on X:

"While censorship is a big topic in today’s media world, Channel 90 might be the poster child. An interview didn’t go the way they hoped after our attorney continued to state fact after fact even tho they tried their best to refute, they have since edited/deleted that interview off of their channels because the narrative doesn’t fit their beliefs. If that doesn’t convince you of the bias then nothing will."

Meanwhile, Channel 90 has not released any official statement or reaction to the accusations made by Hamlin.