NASCAR reportedly zeroes in on Michael Jordan’s right-hand man in response to 23XI lawsuit

NASCAR has allegedly come clean about what it thinks of Curtis Polk’s involvement in the ongoing legal battle. As per journalist Bob Pockrass, Polk, who is Michael Jordan's partner in 23XI Racing's ownership, has been alleged to have helped devise strategies that could affect NASCAR’s media relations as well as its annual events.

23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports were the only two teams that did not sign the newest charter agreement. They felt that NASCAR never allowed them to negotiate. Recently, their motion for a preliminary injunction was refiled, which NASCAR eventually opposed.

NASCAR even filed a motion to reject the 23XI/FRM lawsuit, saying,

“Plaintiffs’ Complaint reflects nothing more than dissatisfaction with business negotiations that didn’t go their way.”

Conveying NASCAR’s opinion of Polk’s role in all of this, Pockrass posted (on X),

“NASCAR answer to lawsuit alleges 23XI co-owner Curtis Polk helped devise strategies [that] included "boycotts and potential boycotts of NASCAR events, negative media campaign to affect the media rights negotiations and threats/coercion to other team owners to “not break ranks.””

Polk said in a statement that NASCAR took away all essential rights from the teams when they set down the terms of the contract. On that note, he also suggested that NASCAR has "superior bargaining powers and indie influence over the sport and the charter process". (via On3)

The teams will be allowed to address NASCAR’s comments on December 12. After that’s done, the parties will meet again at the District Court of North Carolina for further arguments.

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NASCAR President not ready to discuss charter negotiations

Being a chartered team has its perks. Firstly, it comes with monetary benefits, and secondly, it assures a starting spot in every regular season race of the season. In a way, the charters also safeguard the hefty investments made by the teams and their sponsors. However, 23XI Racing will perhaps not be on the receiving side next year.

NASCAR President Steve Phelps said during the sport’s “State of the Sport” address at the NASCAR Awards ceremony in Charlotte that the sport had never discussed charter negotiations in the past two years and things were going to remain that way through 2025 as well.

"I know people are frustrated about that," Phelps told the audience. "We are not going to negotiate in the media about charters, ever. And we are very happy that 32 of the 36 charters were extended because those were race teams that, where the deal that was put on the table for them, the primary big win for the race teams was money.”

"I won't go into what the money split looks like, but what I will say is that the amount of money, it now puts the race teams, starting in '25, as the single largest beneficiary of our media deal,” Phelps added.

This tussle challenges the seamless operation of these two teams at the Cup level. As mentioned earlier, 23XI Racing was initially in the mix to purchase a Stewart-Haas Racing charter, but now, nothing is certain. Safe to say, no transactions are going to happen if NASCAR and the teams fail to get on the same page.