Huntersville-based 23XI Racing — co-owned by Michael Jordan — and Mooresville-based Front Row Motorsports have filed an antitrust lawsuit in North Carolina against NASCAR and its CEO Jim France, alleging that the stock car racing circuit and its leadership have used anti-competitive practices to stifle the sport and unfairly benefit themselves.
Statement from 23XI and Front Row Motorsports ownership. Read more here https://t.co/zvseR0i7bP pic.twitter.com/2HGtyawX6k
— 23XI Racing (@23XIRacing) October 2, 2024
23XI is co-owned by Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin. FRM is owned by Bob and Brad Jenkins.
“I love the sport of racing and the passion of our fans, but the way NASCAR is run today is unfair to teams, drivers, sponsors, and fans,” Jordan said in a statement. “Today’s action shows I’m willing to fight for a competitive market where everyone wins.”
The teams accused NASCAR and the France family of operating NASCAR in a way that solely benefits them. This includes NASCAR owning the majority of the racetracks, preventing teams from competing in other stock-car races and the acquisition of the Automobile Racing Club of America.
NASCAR introduced a charter system during the 2016 season, with an original duration of four years. Charters give teams a guaranteed starting spot in each race and payouts at the end of each season.
The sanctioning body and teams have been meeting for the past two years to reach a new charter agreement with this current deal set to expire at the end of the year. So far, 13 teams have signed on including Concord-based Hendrick Motorsports and Huntersville-based Joe Gibbs Racing.
However, both teams have said that they haven’t signed the new agreement because they felt they were “stonewalled” by NASCAR during the negotiation process.
One of the largest issues teams have faced during negotiations is a better split in revenue between NASCAR and teams.
According to Adam Stern, of the Sports Business Journal, the original charter agreement gives a last-place team roughly $5 million annually. The newest agreement has a slight increase to roughly $8.5 million.
One of the new 2025 charter provisions is that the teams release NASCAR of antitrust claims. As part of the lawsuit, 23XI and Front Row are asking for a preliminary injunction that will allow them to compete as chartered teams in 2025 while still proceeding with the lawsuit. https://t.co/7WWxs9Q4Cv
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) October 2, 2024
The current charter agreement expires in December.
