Front Row Motorsports and 23XI Racing have filed for a preliminary injunction to allow the two teams to race as chartered participants in the NASCAR Cup Series in 2025.
The two teams said they would file for an injunction a week ago when they filed a lawsuit against NASCAR over the sanctioning body’s new charter agreement. FRM and 23XI are the only two teams not to sign the franchise agreement before the early September deadline. The other 13 chartered teams signed the agreement.
“The 23XI and Front Row Motorsports teams are fully committed to competing in next year’s Cup Series,” said a statement from the teams. “Today’s procedural filing is the next step in advancing our case against NASCAR and their monopolistic practices while protecting our drivers, racing teams and sponsors by establishing our legal right to operate in 2025.”
23XI is co-owned by Michael Jordan and Cup Series driver Denny Hamlin. Front Row Motorsports has been competing in the Cup Series for almost 20 years. Both teams want to expand from two to three cars by 2025.
Chartered teams are guaranteed a spot in every race and receive a larger share of the money than open teams. In their lawsuit against NASCAR, the teams said it cost $18 million per season to field a competitive car. And that figure did not include the driver’s salary.
The lawsuit accuses NASCAR of being monopolistic. NASCAR sent its teams their final charter proposal the week before the playoffs started and gave the teams hours to accept the terms. NASCAR has declined to comment on the lawsuit.
The current charter agreement expires at the end of the 2024 season, along with NASCAR’s current media rights agreement. Starting next season, NASCAR will add TNT and Amazon as media partners through the 2031 season.
