23XI and FRM keep NASCAR charters in legal victory

23XI Racing And Front Row Motorsports has been granted a preliminary injunction to retain its charter for the 2025 season Antitrust lawsuit continues against NASCAR and the France family,

The ruling extends only to next year and says the disputed clauses of the 2025 charter agreement that led to the lawsuit are not enforceable while the legal battle continues. Wednesday’s court decision cited the release clause of the new charter agreement, which prevents teams from bringing antitrust claims against NASCAR after it is signed.

To obtain a preliminary injunction, teams had to demonstrate the following: it is likely to succeed on the merits, the injunction is likely to cause irreparable harm without relief, the balance of equities is in its favor, and the injunction would be in the public interest.

The teams originally lost in their motion for a preliminary injunction on November 8 because the judge ruled that their failure to prove would result in irreparable harm as a result of losing the charter.

23XI and FRM then moved to appeal but due to changing circumstances, they decided to drop the appeal and re-file the motion for preliminary injunction with a new approach. Instead of asking the court to grant them the charter, they requested to compete under the 2025 charter agreement with the exception of the release clause.

Of note, the case moved to Judge Frank D. Whitney, who rejected the initial motion for an injunction in November, and is now in the hands of Judge Kenneth D. Bell.

Wednesday’s decision will allow 23XI and FRM to keep their charters until their antitrust lawsuit against NASCAR is resolved.

This also means they can complete the purchase of every third charter from the now defunct Stewart-Haas Racing, subject to NASCAR approval. 23XI has already announced a third car with Riley Herbst, while FRM is also expected to expand zane smith The team was rumored as the favorite for the third seat.

Another important part of the decision is the court’s finding that “NASCAR has a monopoly/monopoly power in the relevant market, which is the market for major stock car racing teams in the United States” and also stated that Formula 1 and While IndyCar is not an option, “NASCAR completely controls which race teams can compete at the highest level of stock car racing – effectively, it has 100% market share.”

This supports the primary argument of the team’s antitrust lawsuit, which accuses NASCAR of being an unlawful monopoly.

The court also found that, unlike the earlier unsuccessful injunction request, the teams citing 23XI had proven that the possibility of immediate harm had shifted “from remote and speculative to present and immediate”. tyler reddick If they compete as open teams their contracts will be voided and they will be able to leave for a rival organization.

Many other drivers under the 23XI and FRM umbrella have expressed similar concerns over the uncertainty of their contracts.

NASCAR could still choose to appeal the decision, which would likely be heard before the start of the 2025 season.