NASCAR Plans on Season With 32 Charters in Latest Lawsuit Filing
The 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports antitrust lawsuit continues to unfold out in the open in the form of public records each time a party files a response. In NASCAR's latest filing of the defense opposition to the plaintiff's motion for expedited discovery, which would allow the teams to have NASCAR open its books prior to a judge ruling on a motion for a preliminary injunction, which if granted would allow the teams to continue running as Chartered entries until the lawsuit was completed, the sanctioning body declared the lawsuit against them as "meritless".
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"Plaintiffs have filed a meritless suit against NASCAR alleging baseless antitrust claims in order to obtain commercial agreements they previously rejected, and to attempt to extort more favorable contract terms," the statement in the filing reads.
The statement then alleges that 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports seeking expedited discovery shows their "true aim," which NASCAR says is, "to use the antitrust discovery process as a weapon."
NASCAR's biggest opposition to the motion for expedited discovery is that 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports are seeking, "all documents regarding seven topics from six NASCAR executives (including the President, CEO, and COO) for a period spanning nearly nine years as well as all contracts with speedways during the same timeframe," and that the teams want that information produced in only five business days.
The sanctioning body also questions the validity of that information being needed for the motion of preliminary injunction, as they feel it's outside of the scope of information needed for that partmotion.
NASCAR goes on to reveal that it plans to run the 2025 season with just 32 Chartered entries, instead of 36.
"The deadline for Plaintiffs to sign 2025 Charter Agreements expired weeks ago, and NASCAR has taken steps, consistent with its contractual obligations to other Charter Teams, to plan for a season with only 32 Charters. Plaintiffs do not need these Charter Agreements to race, and indeed have stated publicly that they will be racing in NASCAR regardless"
NASCAR says that despite the imposed Charter Agreement deadline being September 6, which is when 13 of the 15 teams in the NASCAR Cup Series signed on the dotted line, the sanctioning body extended the deadline for Front Row Motorsports to September 17, and to September 20 for 23XI Racing. Neither team signed, and as a result, the offers were rejected.
In previous filings, 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports have alleged that the 13 teams that signed the agreement only did so because they were under duress as the sanctioning body gave all teams a take-it-or-leave-it deal, with only a few hours to read through the entire document.
NASCAR says as it plans to complete the 2025 season with just 32 Chartered teams instead of 36, that it is, "working on reallocating funds that Plaintiffs would have received to increase prize money and other special awards for the 2025 season for the benefit of teams that timely executed 2025 Charters, as well as Open teams who can compete to win the increased prize money and other special awards."
For those wondering about the additional Charters that each Front Row Motorsports and 23XI Racing have agreed to purchase from Stewart-Haas Racing, NASCAR has to approve the sale and transfer of all Charters, which it has yet to do with the two Stewart-Haas Racing Charters, which 23XI and Front Row have staked a claim to.
Prior to the initial Charter Agreement deadline, Stewart-Haas Racing signed the agreement.
For those not familiar with this situation, on October 3, 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports filed a joint antitrust lawsuit against NASCAR due to what the teams described as, " the unlawful monopolization of premier stock car racing by the France family in order to enrich themselves at the expense of the premier stock car racing teams."
NASCAR, which has been a family-owned sport since day one, has famously been ruled with an iron fist by the France family since 1948. In 2014, a group called the Race Team Alliance was formed with the goal of helping team owners band together in order to negotiate with NASCAR to increase the value and cut costs related to the sport for the teams.
The formation of the RTA led to the successful creation and implementation of the Charter System, which gave guaranteed starting spots to 36 teams in the NASCAR Cup Series, and more importantly gave team owners a tangible asset in case their team ever started to falter. Charters, which started with valuations in the single-digit millions, have skyrocketed in value over the last few years.
However, teams don't see a return on their Charters until the Charters are actually sold. The Charters merely fixed the issue of teams closing down and team owners walking away with nothing more than a bunch of boxes of used parts. The system has worked well for teams such as Germain Racing and Leavine Family Racing, who have left the sport in recent years.
But for teams looking to remain in the sport for the long haul, there was still the issue of the rising costs of racing in the NASCAR Cup Series, which has led to even the top teams such as Hendrick Motorsports to not turn a profit on the racetrack in more than a decade.
This is what the negotiations over the last two and a half years between the sanctioning body and teams have been all about.
The 2025 Charter Agreement will officially set the terms by which all teams will operate for the next seven years, and will determine the percentage of the media rights agreement revenue pie that the teams take home.
Toby Christie is the Editor-in-Chief of Racing America. He has 15 years of experience as a motorsports journalist and has been with Racing America since 2023.