NASCAR's high-stakes showdown continues as district court rules on SHR charter transfer to 23XI

NASCAR's appeal about 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports' injunction ruling in the fight over charter transfers will start soon at the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

On Monday, December 23, Judge Kenneth Bell approved Stewart-Haas Racing’s (SHR) sale of a charter to FRM and ruled that NASCAR must approve the transfers. However, Denny Hamlin's 23XI needed to ask the court separately to approve its charter transfer from SHR since it was not a part of their original request.

Now, NASCAR has agreed to approve the transfer to 23XI, while the team agreed to not use that as an argument in the appeal proceedings. This lets the case go straight to the U.S. Court of Appeals for a quicker resolution.

Renowned NASCAR journalist Bob Pockrass wrote on X:

"District court judge has formally OK’d agreement. NASCAR has agreed to an injunction for SHR charter transfer to 23XI and 23XI agreed it won’t use the fact NASCAR agreed to it as an argument on appeal. This now allows appeal process to start on injunction rulings."

"This just speeds things along to go to U.S. Court of Appeals now rather than waiting for 23XI to ask for an injunction that NASCAR approve charter transfer from SHR, for NASCAR to have to reply and the judge to rule. NASCAR knows how judge would rule based on ruling yesterday," he added.

The judge confirmed that both teams can use the charters in 2025 while the case continues. NASCAR argued that this creates long-term commitments but the judge said if the teams lose, they can sell or lease the charters.

NASCAR's appeal to the decision will be heard by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. The governing body has asked for a fast decision but appeals can take many weeks.

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NASCAR's lawsuit dismissal request to be heard next year

A federal judge has set January 8 as the hearing date to review NASCAR’s request to dismiss the lawsuit, which is scheduled to go to trial in 12 months.

The antitrust lawsuit began when NASCAR introduced a new charter agreement in September 2024. 23XI Racing, co-owned by Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan, and FRM refused to sign the charter deal. They sued NASCAR and requested a preliminary injunction to compete as chartered teams in 2025.

Their request for an injunction was first denied by Judge Frank Whitney. However, Judge Kenneth Bell took over the case on December 11 and approved the re-filed injunction. The judge issued a temporary order for the charter transfers to go ahead and denied NASCAR's request to delay the transfers.

The deadline for gathering evidence is September 19, 2025, and the trial is scheduled for December 1, after the 2025 NASCAR season finishes.