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NASCAR Suing 2 Cup Series Teams For 'Anticompetitive Conduct'

Originally posted on The Spun | By Andrew Gould | Last updated Mar 5, 2025 12:51 PM ET

NASCAR filed a countersuit against 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports.

On Wednesday, NASCAR sued the two Cup Series teams and 23XI Racing co-owner Curtis Polk for alleged "anticompetitive conduct" in negotiations for a new charter. After refusing to sign a new charter agreement for 2025, Front Row and 23XI sued NASCAR in October, claiming NASCAR's actions violated antitrust laws.

In the 30-page lawsuit filed Wednesday, NASCAR said the teams "embarked on a strategy to threaten, coerce, and extort NASCAR into meeting their demands for better contract and financial terms."

"This is not the first time that 23XI and FRM have sought to impose their viewpoints, and those of their counsel, on the racing teams writ large," NASCAR's lawsuit read. "And it is truly ironic that in trying to blow up the Charter system, 23XI and FRM have sought to weaponize the antitrust laws to achieve their goals."

NASCAR claimed Polk, the agent of 23XI Racing co-owner Michael Jordan, "orchestrated a scheme" to extract money from the sport. They claimed he threatened to lead a "group boycott" of NASCAR events and tried coercing other teams to "not break ranks."

"Polk played an active role in 23XI’s decision to enter into a conspiracy with Front Row and others to negotiate collectively with NASCAR," NASCAR alleged. "Polk provided the united position of the teams with respect to how much money teams would receive as part of the 2025 Charter Agreement."

WATKINS GLEN, NEW YORK - AUGUST 08: NBA Hall of Famer Michael Jordan and co-owner of 23XI Racing looks on from the 23XI Racing pit box during the NASCAR Cup Series Go Bowling at The Glen at Watkins Glen International on August 08, 2021 in Watkins Glen, New York. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)

In December, a federal judge granted 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports a preliminary injunction that allows them to play out the 2025 season amid their lawsuit. The ruling also approved each team's charter purchase from Stewart-Haas Racing, which shut down after the 2024 season.

NASCAR argued last month that the decision was "riddled with errors" when filing an appeal to reverse the ruling last month.

"The district court’s injunction orders flout federal antitrust law; misapply the established rules governing the use of preliminary injunctions; ignore unrebutted, legally significant evidence; and have sweeping implications for NASCAR’s 2025 Cup Series season," NASCAR’s attorneys wrote in the brief. "Any one of the district court's many errors warrants reversal."

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

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