CHARLOTTE, N.C. — It’s the summer to sue in NASCAR, the sport where the on-track bumping and banging is in danger of being overshadowed by the action in the courtroom.

Two teams — one owned by retired NBA great Michael Jordan — are suing NASCAR over antitrust allegations. 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports are awaiting a federal court ruling before Sunday’s race in Delaware that could impact their ability to compete.

Meanwhile, seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson is battling tiny Rick Ware Racing, and his lawyers at Legacy Motor Club went hard at Ware’s attorneys in a Monday hearing.

What is all the fighting about? Charters, which are at the heart of NASCAR’s business model. Having one is vital to a team’s survival.

The legal wrangling is only making the the charters skyrocket in value. When Spire Motorsports debuted in 2019, it had bought a charter for $6 million. Now, one of Spire’s founders brokered the now-disputed deal for Ware to sell one of his two charters to Legacy for $45 million.

Johnson is not enjoying the legal brawling, including the higher-profile antitrust fight. He called on those parties to settle.

“I’m just sitting back watching it all play out, learning a lot about the legal process and the amount of injunctions and appeals that can take place,” Johnson said. “It’s a big game of chess, and I’m watching all the strategy that goes into it all.

“I would love to see a settlement of some kind. I really don’t think that getting into a knock-down, drag-out lawsuit is good for anybody.”

The NASCAR lawsuit

23XI and FRM filed a federal antitrust suit against NASCAR last year after they were the only two organizations out of 15 to reject NASCAR’s extension offer on charters.

The case has a Dec. 1 trial date, but, in the meantime, the two teams are fighting to be recognized as chartered for the current season, which has 16 races left. A charter guarantees one of the 40 spots in the field each week, but also a base amount of money paid out each week.

Jordan and FRM owner Bob Jenkins won an injunction to recognize 23XI and FRM as chartered for the season, but the ruling was overturned on appeal earlier this month. Both teams were set to be stripped of a combined six charters on Wednesday, which would force them to compete as “open cars.”

Three-time Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin co-owns 23XI with Jordan and said they are prepared to send Tyler Reddick, Bubba Wallace and Riley Herbst to the track each week as open teams. But they still filed for a restraining order Monday and claimed that through discovery they learned NASCAR upon revocation planned to immediately begin the process of selling the six charters which would put “plaintiffs in irreparable jeopardy of never getting their charters back and going out of business.”

NASCAR said it has asked multiple times for settlement proposals but heard nothing. NASCAR also has no intention of re-negotiating the charter agreements held by 30 other teams.

Jordan has the money to keep 23XI running without charters, but FRM doesn’t have the same level of funding. Additionally, if the teams aren’t chartered, they will have to qualify on speed each week to make the field.

It won’t be an issue this weekend at Dover as fewer than the maximum 40 cars are entered. But should 41 cars show up anywhere this season, someone slow will be sent home.

“We’re not worried because our cars have the speed. We’ve always said we’re racing no matter what. If we have to race open, we have to race open,” Hamlin said at Sonoma Raceway last weekend. “We worked to get an injunction and obviously feel like Dec. 1 is all that matters.”

Legacy vs. RWR

This case is actually a dispute over agreed-upon terms for Ware to sell one of his two charters to Johnson and his partners at Knighthead Capital Management.

Ware this season is leasing a charter to RFK Racing and was already under agreement with that team to get the charter back in 2026, then lease RFK its second charter next season. He never had a charter to sell for 2026 unless he ceased operations.

Yet when he signed the contract with Legacy, Ware has said, he didn’t read it through and catch that the sale terms were for next season and not 2027, when he’d have both charters in his possession.

RWR is alleging Legacy pulled a bait-and-switch, and if true, it is on Ware for not seeing it in the contract he signed.

The curveball came when T.J. Puchyr, the Spire co-founder who now acts as a consultant and brokered the deal between Legacy and Ware, said last month he plans to buy Ware’s team. Legacy argued in court Monday it was blindsided by the news, that if Ware is selling then the charter rightfully belongs to them, and they urgently needed depositions before Ware sold his race team out from under them.

It didn’t help when Ware’s lawyers couldn’t answer questions about a potential sale: “I think you need to talk to your client,” the judge told them before warning Ware may be in contempt of court and ordering depositions for later this week.

Ware, meanwhile, apparently accepted the Legacy offer for his charter despite a second bid of more than $50 million from another party. With NASCAR indicating through discovery in the 23XI/FRM suit that it has interested buyers for the six charters, it is a seller’s market.

Johnson, with financial backing from Knighthead, is certain he will be getting the Ware charter one way or another to expand Legacy to three full-time Cup Series drivers.

“I’m not sure there is a plan B,” Johnson said of his confidence level at winning the case.

Advance Auto Parts has forged a new partnership with Wood Brothers Racing, one of NASCAR’s most iconic organizations, for Sunday’s AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400 at Dover Motor Speedway.

Josh Berry will be piloting the No. 21 Advance Auto Parts Ford Mustang Dark Horse in the NASCAR Cup Series’ annual trip to the one-mile concrete oval, taking place on Sunday, July 20.

The addition of this partnership with Wood Brothers Racing further expands the motorsports portfolio of Advance Auto Parts, which also sponsors Ryan Blaney and Team Penske, as well as the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series — which allows short track racers to compete for track, state, regional, and national championships.

Berry is the 2020 NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series champion, a triumph which assisted in springboarding the Hendersonville, Tennessee-native into NASCAR’s National Series on a full-time basis, and eventually into the NASCAR Cup Series.

“To have Advance Auto Parts on board at Dover is really special to me,” said Berry. “They’ve done so much to support grassroots racing across the country, and I’m proud to have won the Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series championship back in 2020. It means a lot to now represent them at the Cup level with Wood Brothers Racing.”

The 34-year-old driver is currently in his first year of NASCAR Cup Series competition with Wood Brothers Racing, after contesting his rookie campaign with Stewart-Haas Racing in 2024. Berry has already locked the team into the postseason with a win at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

“Advance Auto Parts has been a tremendous supporter in raising the profile of short track racing across the country for the past several years, and this partnership aligns perfectly with Josh’s background,” said Jon Wood, president, Wood Brothers Racing. “He’s a product of the system they’ve supported and continues to represent the values of grassroots racing. We’re proud to have Advance Auto Parts on board the No. 21 car at Dover.”

The partnership also reflects Advance Auto Parts’ continued investment in driver development and the future of the sport.

“Josh’s journey from the local short tracks to the Cup Series embodies the spirit of what Advance Auto Parts stands for,” said Bruce Starnes, executive vice president and chief merchant, Advance Auto Parts. “We’re proud to support him and to align with one of the most iconic teams in the sport in Wood Brothers Racing.”

The AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400 at Dover Motor Speedway will take place on Sunday, July 20 at 2:00 pm ET on TNT Sports, Performance Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

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Related

Kevin Harvick believes Shane van Gisbergen’s recent NASCAR success could mark a pivotal turning point, not just for Trackhouse Racing, but for the sport’s commercial landscape as well.

Red Bull’s unexpected NASCAR comeback in 2025 is already making headlines in Victory Lane. Partnering with Trackhouse Racing, the iconic energy drink brand has returned to stock car racing for the first time since 2011, sponsoring both Van Gisbergen and rising prospect Connor Zilisch.

The decision to return, mainly due to Van Gisbergen’s long-standing Red Bull partnership in Australian Supercars, is already paying off.

Why Does Kevin Harvick Think Red Bull’s NASCAR Return Matters?

On his “Happy Hour” podcast, Harvick praised Red Bull’s return to NASCAR’s Victory Lane and called it a significant moment for the energy drink giant’s renewed involvement in stock car racing.

“When you look at SVG, well there’s a couple things here,” Harvick said. “One, the sponsor on the side of that car. Okay, well, when you have Red Bull on the side of your car.”

Harvick pointed out that Red Bull’s previous stint in NASCAR, beginning around 2005, ended in disappointment due to poor team performance and a lack of lasting impact. But with Van Gisbergen taking wins and bringing Zilisch into the fold under the Red Bull banner, Harvick sees a sharp contrast.

“Red Bull came into this sport in 2005-ish, and had just a terrible experience with the way that they put the team together, the performance on the racetrack, everything that happened with Red Bull’s experience in NASCAR is the exact opposite of what happened yesterday,” Harvick said. “With Shane going to Victory Lane, his relationship, bringing Connor Zilisch on board with that Red Bull relationship.”

While Harvick emphasized that he doesn’t typically focus on sponsors, Red Bull’s success with SVG signals something bigger for the sport.

“Normally I don’t sit here and talk about sponsors,” Harvick said. “But to me this is a big deal to have Red Bull in Victory Lane, and have Red Bull back in NASCAR racing because the energy drink sector of what we do, we need Red Bull and Monster to compete. Whether it be marketing, advertising, well just like Budweiser, Coors Light, Miller Light used to do back in the day.”

With Van Gisbergen now a proven winner and Red Bull visibly invested, Harvick believes NASCAR could be headed for a new era of big-brand rivalries.

“When you have those big companies like that that are engaged in the marketing side of things, it brings a whole new element to the marketing side of things, and that is good for our sport,” Harvick said.

Chris Knight

Chris Knight has served as a senior staff writer and news editor for CATCHFENCE.com since 2001.
In his 20-plus years with CATCHFENCE.com, he has covered NASCAR’s top three national series, often breaking news and providing exclusive at-track content, including in-depth race weekend coverage. He also offers insider coverage of the entire Motorsports platform, including the ARCA Menards Series.
In 2022, Knight became co-owner of CATCHFENCE.com.
In addition to his active duties at CATCHFENCE.com and other Motorsports-related endeavors, he is also a frequent contributor to SiriusXM Satellite Radio NASCAR Channel 90. You can follow him on X (formerly Twitter) at @Knighter01 or on Instagram, Snapchat, or Threads at @TheKnighter01. He can be reached by email at [email protected].