The 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season begins in earnest this weekend with one of the biggest races of the year: the Daytona 500.
The first crown jewel race of the year kicks things off three months after Joey Logano won his third career Cup Series championship in Phoenix in the 2024 season finale. Logano’s title was his second in the last three years and marked three in a row for Team Penske (Logano in 2022 and 2024, Ryan Blaney in 2023).
A nine-month journey for the next champion begins this weekend at the Daytona International Speedway. But the season begins as an off-track storyline continues: a lawsuit by two racing teams, 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports, against NASCAR.
The two teams initially filed the lawsuit last October in the Western District of North Carolina. The lawsuit accused NASCAR of restraining fair competition and violating the Sherman Antitrust Act as teams signed a new charter agreement with NASCAR’s governing body ahead of the 2025 season.
‘[The] France family and NASCAR are monopolistic bullies,’ 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports claimed in the lawsuit obtained by USA TODAY Sports. ‘And bullies will continue to impose their will to hurt others until their targets stand up and refuse to be victims. That moment has now arrived.’
It’s been four months since the lawsuit was originally filed. Here’s the latest on where things stand entering Daytona:
NASCAR lawsuit latest
Both 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports will compete in the 2025 Cup Series season despite not signing the new charter. U.S. District Judge Kenneth D. Bell granted both teams an injunction in December that permits them to race while the lawsuit continues.
Each team will have three charters for the 2025 season. 23XI Racing will run the No. 23 Toyota of Bubba Wallace, the No. 35 Toyota of rookie Riley Herbst and the No. 45 Toyota of Tyler Reddick. Front Row Motorsports will run the No. 4 Chevrolet of Noah Gragson, the No. 34 Chevrolet of Todd Gilliland and the No. 38 Chevrolet of Zane Smith.
NASCAR lawsuit timeline
Oct. 2, 2024
23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports file antitrust lawsuit against NASCAR’s sanctioning body and CEO Jim France.
The lawsuit argues that NASCAR presented a take-it-or-leave-it deal to the teams on Sept. 6, giving them until 6 p.m. to sign or risk not having a charter for the 2025 Cup Series season.
Both teams say in a statement that NASCAR operates without transparency and unfairly benefits from the sport at the expense of fans, drivers, owners and sponsors.
‘Everyone knows that I have always been a fierce competitor, and that will to win is what drives me and the entire 23XI team each and every week out on the track,’ 23XI Racing co-owner and Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame player Michael Jordan said in a statement. ‘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. Today’s action shows I’m willing to fight for a competitive market where everyone wins.’
Nov. 4, 2024
The two sides meet in a courtroom to decide whether or not the two teams can race in 2025 without signing the charter.
Front Row Motorsports and 23XI Racing wanted a clause in the new charter agreement preventing signees from bringing antitrust action against NASCAR waived so they could race in 2025. That way, they could continue to earn the money charters bring and continue racing in the sport.
NASCAR argued that the charter was no longer available to 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports because they brought a lawsuit.
‘I put all my cards on the table,’ Jordan said after the hearing. ‘I think we did a good job of that.’
Nov. 8, 2024
23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports’ injunction request is denied.
Judge Frank Whitney ruled that it was too soon for both teams to meet a standards of harm that would justify the request.
Nov. 26, 2024
23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports file a new preliminary injunction request.
It’s later revealed that the new request provides examples of how both teams could lose their drivers and sponsors without being guaranteed a charter for the 2025 season, including 23XI Racing driver Tyler Reddick and sponsor Monster Energy.
Both 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports were in the process of gaining a third charter from the downsizing Stewart-Haas Racing team for the 2025 season. The new request included those acquisitions as potential harm done without this injunction.
Dec. 2, 2024
NASCAR motions to dismiss the lawsuit.
The sanctioning body argued it is not a monopoly in stock car racing and that NASCAR does not want to work with the two teams because of the suit. They argue that the two teams didn’t get what they wanted in the charter agreement and it doesn’t justify an antitrust issue.
NASCAR also indicated it would not allow the two teams to acquire a charter from Stewart-Haas Racing without accepting the new charter agreement.
Dec. 12, 2024
Both teams argue NASCAR backtracked on initial approval for acquiring a charter from Stewart-Haas Racing.
Front Row Motorsports general manager Jerry Freeze provided an email exchange that shows NASCAR president Steve Phelps approved the charter transfer pending a $50,000 fee. Freeze also stated that Phelps told him in a phone call three months earlier that Front Row Motorsports was approved for the transfer, pending customary documentation.
Stewart-Haas Racing president Joe Custer stated in an affidavit that NASCAR officials conveyed to him multiple times that the transfers would be approved.
Front Row then alleged Phelps backtracked by Dec. 8 and said the transfer would not go through unless the the lawsuit was dropped.
NASCAR reiterated its original request to dismiss the lawsuit and stated both teams were now seeking more than what was in previous filings. As such, it should be viewed as a new motion.
The teams respond and stated they had no reason to suspect NASCAR would reject the charter acquisitions from Stewart-Haas Racing.
Dec. 16, 2024
Both sides propose deadlines for the lawsuit.
The teams and NASCAR agree on a Jan. 10 deadline for initial disclosures. NASCAR asked for discovery to be completed by Oct. 17, the two teams asked for that to be completed by July 18.
Dec. 18, 2024
Judge Bell grants 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports their preliminary injunction request.
Bell, who took over on the case in early December from Judge Whitney, rules that both teams can race with their original two charters in 2025 as the lawsuit continues. He cites the possibility of losing drivers as a clear reason to grant the request.
Bell also found that NASCAR holds monopoly power in stock car racing.
“NASCAR’s Cup Series is the only premier stock car racing series in the United States, and premier stock car racing is a distinct form of automobile racing with unique cars and highly specialized racing teams for which other types of motorsports like Formula 1 and IndyCar are not substitutes,” Bell wrote in the ruling. “Therefore, NASCAR fully controls which race teams can compete at the highest level of stock car racing — effectively, it has a 100 (percent) market share.”
Dec. 23, 2024
Judge Bell rules that both Front Row Motorsports and 23XI Racing be approved for a third charter acquired from Stewart-Haaas Racing but in different ways.
Bell ruled earlier that both teams could continue in the 2025 season with their two charters each from the 2024 season. NASCAR had to approve Front Row Motorsports’ acquisition, but 23XI Racing had to ask the court specifically for the charter purchase to be approved by NASCAR.
This is because 23XI Racing did not ask for the charter transfer to be approved in its initial injunction request. That meant the team had to file a separate motion.
Jan. 10, 2025
Judge Bell denies NASCAR’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit.
Two days earlier, Bell had heard from both sides in a hearing regarding the motion. He indicated it would likely be denied by stating ‘this case is going to be tried this year, and deserves to be tried this year.’
Bell denied the motion to dismiss and denied NASCAR’s motion to have both teams post bond in excess of $10 million for each of their cars. NASCAR had argued for that in case it won the lawsuit and was entitled to damages, but Bell reasoned the sanctioning body could ask for damages at a later date.
Feb. 12
On Wednesday, while Daytona Speedweeks was taking place, NASCAR filed its appellate brief to the injunction that allows 23XI and Front Row to operate as charter teams while suing NASCAR for antitrust violations.
NASCAR argued that two teams are not likely to succeed on the merits of the case, reiterating that 13 of 15 teams signed the charter agreement, there are other racing options 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports could join and the NASCAR Cup Series can’t be the defined ‘market’ when it comes to antitrust issues. NASCAR also took aim at Bell in its brief to the U.S. Court of Appeals, criticizing his ruling that the clause in the charter agreement that releases NASCAR from legal claims violates antitrust law.
‘These injunctions misuse the judicial power to force NASCAR to treat its litigation adversaries as its business partners and confidants, undermining the mutual trust that has fueled NASCAR’s growth and success,’ NASCAR says in its brief.
What’s next in the NASCAR lawsuit?
Front Row Motorsports’ and 23XI Racing’s response to NASCAR’s appeal is due March 14. NASCAR’s reply is due April 12. A likely hearing on the appeal will be May 9 or May 15 in the U.S. Court of Appeals Fourth Circuit (Richmond, Virginia) with a decision likely by the end of June.
Bell had indicated earlier that if appeals were denied, a jury trial would begin in December.
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