23XI and FRM move to keep charters, want "immediate access" to NASCAR documents

As expected after last week's lawsuit filing, 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports have filed a motion for a preliminary injunction, seeking to keep their charters for the 2025 season while the lawsuit is ongoing. If their request is not granted, they will be forced to compete as "open" teams next year, losing out on significant revenue. They would also lose the ability to be locked into every race — notably the Daytona 500, where multiple cars go home every year. That race alone accounts for 15% of the total season purse, per this latest court filing.

Additionally, the two teams have filed a motion for expedited discovery, requesting "immediate access to documents and files from NASCAR executives."

Those named include NASCAR's CEO Jim France, Executive Vice Chair Lesa France Kennedy, Executive Vice President and Chief Venue & Racing Innovations Officer Ben Kennedy, Chief Operating Officer Steve O’Donnell, President Steve Phelps, and Senior Vice President of Global Strategy Scott Prime. 

Specific documents that 23XI and FRM are looking for:

• Documents discussing the mandatory release provision in the 2025 charter agreement
• Documents discussing NASCAR’s decision to end negotiating with the Team Negotiating Committee and only negotiate with individual racing teams for the 2025 charter agreement
• Documents discussing NASCAR’s decision to present to the teams a take-it-or-leave-it final proposal for the 2025 charter agreement.
• Documents and files surrounding NASCAR’s exclusive or restrictive contracts with independently owned racetracks that have hosted Cup Series races since 2016, NASCAR’s acquisitions of the International Speedway Corporation (ISC) and Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA), and the charter agreement provisions that restrict teams from competing in non-NASCAR events and from using Next Gen parts and cars in non-NASCAR events.

Front Row Motorsports leads the way at Talladega with Michael McDowell (No. 34) and Todd Gilliland (No. 38).

Photo by: Rusty Jarrett / NKP / Motorsport Images

“The 23XI and Front Row Motorsports teams are fully committed to competing in next year’s Cup Series," read a statement released on Wednesday. "Today’s procedural filing is the next step in advancing our case against NASCAR and their monopolistic practices, while protecting our drivers, race teams, and sponsors by establishing our legal right to run in 2025.”

Added Jeffrey Kessler, the lead counsel representing the teams: “NASCAR’s dominant control over racing is not because of its superior skill or business acumen, but rather its history of exclusionary acts and restrictive agreements that have stifled competition through its monopoly power. We believe our expedited discovery requests of NASCAR and the France family will shed light on their anticompetitive practices and support a preliminary injunction ruling that 23XI and Front Row Motorsports have a legally protected right to race next year while our antitrust case proceeds in Court."

Last Wednesday, the teams filed a 43-page lawsuit alleging that NASCAR was in violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 and accused them of unlawful monopolistic practices. 23XI and FRM both compete with two full-time Cup cars, and have made it known that they intend to expand to three-car operations for the 2025 season.