23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports scored a victory over NASCAR in federal court on Wednesday.
Judge Kenneth Bell ruled in favor of the teams’ request for a preliminary injunction to race as chartered teams in 2025. Bell’s grant of the injunction in a federal court in North Carolina means the two teams can race with the benefits afforded them by a chartered team and also allow them to complete the purchase of charters from Stewart-Haas Racing. NASCAR has the option to appeal the decision.
The two teams sought the order when they filed an antitrust lawsuit against NASCAR in October over the sanctioning body’s charter agreement. The two were the only teams not to sign the new deal. The previous charter agreement – NASCAR’s version of a franchise agreement between itself and its teams – expired at the end of the 2024 season.
“The Court hereby issues a limited preliminary injunction, for the duration of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Season only, as follows: Defendants and their agents, servants, employees, attorneys, and all persons actively working or participating with Defendants, must permit Plaintiffs to enter each of two race cars in all NASCAR Cup races under the terms of the 2025 Charter Agreement applicable to all charter teams, except that the “release” language in section 10.3 of the 2025 De Charter Agreement will be unenforceable to the extent that it would discharge or bar plaintiffs’ claims in this action,” the ruling said. “Further, NASCAR is provisionally restrained from refusing to approve Plaintiffs’ purchases of two Stewart-Haas Racing, LLC charters, which Plaintiffs may use in all 2025 NASCAR Cup races under the same terms and conditions as other charter teams, again excluding the application of the release language to Plantiffs’ claims in this action; and a Case Management Schedule will be established by the Court which, in the absence of a voluntary resolution of this dispute between the Parties, will provide for a trial of Plaintiffs’ claims to be held prior to the start of the 2026 NASCAR racing season completed. ”
Both 23XI and Front Row competed as two-car teams in 2024. The team, co-owned by Michael Jordan and NASCAR Cup Series driver Denny Hamlin, fielded cars for Bubba Wallace and Tyler Reddick, while Front Row had drivers Michael McDowell and Todd Gilliland. With the closure of four-car Stewart Haas Racing at the end of the 2024 season, each team agreed to purchase a charter from SHR to expand to three cars and drivers in 2025.
Hamlin reacted jubilantly on social media after the ruling.
Front Row is expected to field a third car for Zane Smith in 2025, as Noah Gragson will replace McDowell. 23XI Racing already announced that Riley Herbst will drive a third car for the team.
“We welcome today’s decision by Judge Bell issuing a preliminary injunction in our favor,” the teams’ attorney, Jeffrey Kessler, said in a statement. “The court’s ruling allows 23XI and Front Row Motorsports to race existing cars as chartered teams in next year’s Cup Series. The decision also requires NASCAR to approve both teams’ purchase of a third charter from Stewart-Haas Racing and also allow these cars to race as chartered teams in the 2025 season. We are confident in the strength of our cause and will continue to fight so that racing can thrive and become a more competitive and fair sport in a way that benefits teams, drivers, sponsors and, most importantly, our fans.”
Charter teams receive a larger share of NASCAR’s money and the charters guarantee participation in every race on the Cup Series calendar. Both 23XI and FRM were previously allowed to compete as open teams in 2025 if the injunction had not been granted, although they would not each have been guaranteed three spots in the Daytona 500 if more than 40 cars had entered the race.
