"The France family and NASCAR are monopolistic bullies" -- 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports File Antitrust Lawsuit Against NASCAR; France Family

By Ethan Hoffman -- Staff Writer

This morning at 9:02 AM EST, 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports released a joint statement, explaining their intent to file an antitrust lawsuit against NASCAR and CEO Jim France. This comes after both teams refused to sign NASCAR’s “final” version of its charter deal system, set to go into effect at the beginning of the 2025 season. 

Michael Jordan, Co-Owner of 23XI Racing, released a statement alongside 23XI's X Post announcing the lawsuit. (Photo Cred: @23XIRacing on X)

Michael Jordan, Curtis Polk, Denny Hamlin, and Bob Jenkins all released personal statements regarding the new lawsuit, but also a joint statement posted on social media along with the announcement. 

“We share a passion for racing, the thrill of competition, and winning. Off the racetrack, we share a belief that change is necessary for the sport we love. Together, we brought this antitrust case so that racing can thrive and become a more competitive and fair sport in ways that will benefit teams, drivers, sponsors, and, most importantly, fans.”, 

An additional statement on 23XI Racing’s website (23xiracing.com) did not share the same humility, with the France family being described as “monopolistic bullies”. “The France family and NASCAR are monopolistic bullies. And bullies will continue to impose their will to hurt others until their targets stand up and refuse to be victims. The moment has now arrived.”

The lawsuit pays close attention to the inner workings of NASCAR, more specifically the France family and its attempts to monopolize the Stock Car Racing business as a whole. 

The discussion around NASCAR and the France family’s unfair treatment of race teams have been at the center point of charter agreement discussion, dating as far back to October of 2022 when Curtis Polk of 23XI Racing called the system “broken” and questioned the sustainability of the sport under France leadership. 

NASCAR has been under the control of the France family since its creation in 1948, but since then there has been little change to how the sport is run. In a time where the NFL, NBA, MLS, MLB, and a majority of other leagues are run by a collective of people to ensure fair practices are made, NASCAR has done the opposite. 

Unlike those leagues, NASCAR is run much like a mom-and-pop company, with private finances and the ability to have complete control of their business without consequences. The teams of NASCAR are essentially independent contractors, with little to no control over what happens to the sport they happen to invest millions of dollars in. 

Those millions of dollars being invested into the sport are one of the main reasons this lawsuit is even happening, with NASCAR’s private finances in jeopardy of being made public for the first time ever. If this case were to make it to open court, NASCAR would have to open its pocketbooks and disclose how much money they are truly bringing in, and what percentage of the cut Cup Series teams have truly been making. 

Besides the factor of NASCAR’s finances, the focal point of this lawsuit is NASCAR’s business practices that teter over the lines of monopolization. Both 23XI and Front Row Motorsports published a list of alleged actions by NASCAR and the France family that created an unfair structure around Stock Car Racing. 

NASCAR’s purchasing of tracks and making them series-exclusive, The acquisition of the ARCA Racing Series, Retaining ownership of Next Gen cars, and the introduction of single-source supplies are all featured. 

In 2019, NASCAR purchased International Speedway Corporation (ISC) for 2 Billion dollars. With that deal, NASCAR obtained sole ownership of Daytona International Speedway, Talladega Superspeedway, Michigan International Speedway, Richmond Raceway, Martinsville Speedway, Phoenix Raceway, Atlanta Motor Speedway, Watkins Glen International, Homestead-Miami Speedway, California Speedway, Darlington Raceway, Kansas Speedway, and Chicagoland Speedway. These tracks make up 50% of the 2025 Cup Series Schedule. (Photo Cred: The Daytona Beach News Journal)

Both teams claim that NASCAR is holding back revenue from race teams by eliminating competition and making NASCAR the “only show in town” when it comes to high-level stock car racing.

An interesting thing of note, according to sources close to the situation, the 2025 Charter deal signed by all race teams except 23XI and Front Row had a clause that did not allow any race teams to file antitrust lawsuits against NASCAR or the France family. One would imagine, it would be difficult to refute the allegations of breaking antitrust laws while also creating clauses protecting yourself from antitrust lawsuits.

Jeffrey Kessler, Council for 23XI Racing & Front Row Motorsports has a history of creating change in the sports world through antitrust lawsuits. (Photo Cred: Sports Business Journal)

However, antitrust clauses could be the least of NASCAR’s worries as 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports have obtained one of the most fierce councils when it comes to antitrust suits in the sports world. Jeffrey Kessler, of Winston & Straw LLP, is set to represent both teams against NASCAR. Kessler has a track record of going after major sports organizations for antitrust violations including the NFL, NCAA, and NHL. 

Kessler is responsible for major litigations such as the creation of NFL Free Agency, NIL Deals for NCAA Athletes, and equal pay for the United States Women’s National Soccer Team. 

While the lawsuit will likely not be done before February 2nd’s season-opening NASCAR Cup Series event at Bowman-Gray Stadium, it is believed that a preliminary injunction will be signed by both 23XI Racing, Front Row Motorsports, and NASCAR that will allow both race teams to compete while going through litigation.