NASCAR’s “cartel” charges against 23XI and FRM propagate legal fury, plaintiffs unearth $374B company’s latest involvement

There have been some advancements to the legal case that NASCAR is battling against 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports. In December, the two teams were granted a preliminary injunction that allowed them to compete as chartered teams in 2025. And just yesterday, the Association made a move that could have nullified the antitrust lawsuit.

NASCAR went to the federal court, appealing to have the antitrust lawsuit dismissed. The plaintiff claimed that the violations that the teams mentioned in the lawsuit are “beyond a four-year statute of limitations.” (Matt Weaver, The Sportsnaut.) But Judge Kenneth D. Bell denied the request.

In the process, Chris Yates, attorney for the Association and its CEO Jim France, called out 23XI Racing, Front Row Motorsports, and Race Team Alliance, a Charlotte-based organization formed by 15 Cup Series teams. According to Yates, the teams joined forces with the RTA while attempting to have the terms of the charter agreement in their favor. He suggested this birthed the only "anti-competitive" spirit within the sport:

“If there was any anticompetitive behavior, it came from the RTA. They acted as a cartel. They said, ‘We will only do this if you give us these terms.’ That’s unlawful.”

Yates further mentioned that, speaking of “giving” NASCAR was ready to give the teams as much as 47 percent of the annual TV revenue. Opposing attorney Jeanifer Parsigian (Winston & Strawn, LLP) however, demanded pay that would encourage both teams to work together per the charter agreement.

Parsigian also mentioned that Netflix had recently contacted the teams for Season 2 of “Full Speed” and that if not allowed to race as chartered teams, they would never have considered appearing in any production that the media giant worth $374 billion (as per Forbes) was a part of.

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NASCAR attorney claps back at Judge Kenneth D. Bell’s interrogation about charter-less model

During the session, Judge Frank D. Bell asked Chris Yates if the charters were required to be handed out to the teams. Recalling how things were before the charter system was introduced in 2016, Yates replied:

“NASCAR would be perfectly fine going back to that model.”

Before the inception of the charter system, individual contractors used to invest their money to compete in NASCAR-sanctioned events. Safe to say, that is not going to happen anytime soon. Instead, Judge Bell then asked both sides to work together. Failing to do so will incur a loss worth the money spent on the “discovery portion of the case” he said (via ESPN).

Bell added that he would be flexible with the dates for upcoming hearings, but not the one scheduled for December 1, 2025. The final trial will be held that day.