23XI Racing Owner Denny Hamlin Claps Back At NASCAR

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23XI Racing Owner Denny Hamlin Claps Back At NASCAR

Originally posted on The Spun | By Andrew Gould | Last updated Mar 5, 2025 4:39 PM ET

Denny Hamlin appeared to take a shot at NASCAR following Wednesday's countersuit.

NASCAR sued 23XI Racing, Front Row Motorsports, and 23XI Racing co-owner Curtis Polk for alleged "anticompetitive conduct." The 30-page filing claimed the two Cup Series teams "embarked on a strategy to threaten, coerce, and extort NASCAR into meeting their demands for better contract and financial terms" during negotiations for a new charter agreement.

Following the court filing, NASCAR attorney Chris Yates discussed the situation on a call with media members. He said 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports "seem intent on destroying the value that race teams in partnership with NASCAR have built."

"NASCAR wants to work with teams to grow the sport," Yates said, via The Athletic's Jeff Gluck. "I don't know if 23XI and Front Row truly want to grow the sport, so I don't know what the path toward a resolution here is at the moment."

Around the same time as Yates' call, Joe Gibbs Racing promoted Hamlin's public appearances this weekend. The 23XI racing co-owner, who was not named as a defendant in NASCAR's lawsuit, will attend the NASCAR Experience stage Saturday morning and sign autographs on Sunday ahead of the Shriners Children's 500.

Hamlin cheekily magnified those events with a not-so-subtle dig at Yates' claim.

"Come see me actively promoting and growing our sport this Saturday," Hamlin wrote.

In its lawsuit, NASCAR compared 23XI Racing and Front Row's actions to an "illegal cartel." The filing claims those teams and Polk schemed "to pressure NASCAR to accept their collusive terms" by interfering in broadcasting negotiations, launching negative public campaigns, and threatening to arrange race boycotts.

"NASCAR has not sued teams who signed the 2025 charter and chose to partner with NASCAR," Yates said, per Gluck and Jordan Bianchi. “We sued the teams who started this dispute. Those teams are challenging the charter system the (other) teams want, and Curtis orchestrated the group boycott and the unlawful horizontal agreement."

Last December, a federal judge ruled that 23XI Racing and Front Row could remain active NASCAR competitors as the legal dispute plays out in 2025. Their lawsuit against NASCAR has a jury trial set for Dec. 1.

This article first appeared on The Spun and was syndicated with permission.

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