A federal appeals court ruled in favor of NASCAR on Thursday in the sanctioning body’s ongoing legal battle with Michael Jordan’s 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports.

The Fourth Circuit of Appeals in North Carolina overturned an injunction that allowed the teams to race as chartered teams as their lawsuit against NASCAR proceeded. The teams won the injunction in December after they were the only two teams in NASCAR’s Cup Series to not sign the current franchising agreement between NASCAR and its teams.

“In short, because we have found no support for the proposition that a business entity or person violates the antitrust laws by requiring a prospective participate to give a release for past conduct as a condition for doing business, we cannot conclude that the plaintiffs made a clear showing that they were likely to succeed on the merits of that theory,” the decision stated. “And without satisfaction of the likelihood-of-success element, the plaintiffs were not entitled to a preliminary injunction.”

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Front Row and 23XI had said that NASCAR was monopolistic in its antitrust suit filed in October. Chartered teams receive guaranteed entries into every Cup Series race and, most importantly, get a bigger share of purse money from the season-ending points fund.

Per the terms of the decision, the teams have 14 days to ask for another hearing and the revocation of the charters — if it happened — wouldn’t go into effect for another week after that 14-day deadline. There’s still plenty of time for more legal machinations to happen before the teams’ charters would get taken.

Where everything stands now

There were signs the teams’ argument could be in trouble a month ago during a May hearing. The appeals court proceeding happened after NASCAR appealed the injunction in favor of the teams. A judge on the panel openly questioned the teams’ argument that they should receive the benefits of the charter contract while not signing the contract.

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From Sportsnaut:

“I had thought coming in and you can correct me, that the district court concluded that the (lawsuit release clause) was anticompetitive and therefore, to protect your antitrust claims, the court wanted you to be able to race but without a contract that included the release,” said Niemeyer, “and my concern and I’ll just lay it out there, I don’t understand the Section 2 analysis, what we need to have is the exercise of monopoly power to exclude competition.

“I can’t see why a release addresses competition in any sense. If you don’t want the contract, you don’t enter into it and you sue. But if you do want the contract, you enter into it, and you’ve given up past releases. But the Omega (a precedence case) is that you can’t have you cake and eat it too.”

The teams have been represented by famed antitrust lawyer Jeffrey Kessler. The 71-year-old has been on the winning side in previous high-profile sports cases like the NCAA’s lifting of its cap on college athlete compensation, the United States Women’s National Team’s pay discrimination case and even Tom Brady’s appeal of his four-game suspension as part of the “Deflategate” scandal.

Neither 23XI or Front Row Appseem to be at risk of failing to qualify for any races if they lose their charter protections because no race since the Daytona 500 has featured more than 40 teams attempting to qualify for the 40 available starting spots. In fact, all but one race since the 500 has not featured a full field.

The money, however, is a much bigger factor. Cup Series teams rely heavily on purse and points fund money from NASCAR. With chartered teams getting a much larger share of that money than open teams, the budgets of both 23XI and Front Row Motorsports could be heavily impacted.

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The decision could also lead to a fascinating dilemma. Both Front Row and 23XI expanded from two cars to three over the offseason by purchasing charters from the now defunct Stewart-Haas Racing team that closed at the end of the season. NASCAR would assumably take over the ownership of the charters since SHR no longer exists and other chartered teams could end up getting larger shares of the money designated for chartered teams.

Front Row currently fields cars for Todd Gilliland, Noah Gragson and Zane Smith, while 23XI Racing has cars for Riley Herbst, Tyler Reddick and Bubba Wallace.

LEBANON, Tenn. — The tall guy in the red Dale Earnhardt Jr. T-shirt blends in with other NASCAR fans mingling near pit road at Nashville Superspeedway, soaking in the atmosphere before a Truck Series race on a summer Friday night.

Energy drink in hand, he looks out at the grandstands and soon-to-be noisy racetrack and smiles.

“I’ve always dreamt of being able to watch every race,” he says. “Now I’m here.”

He senses someone in his peripheral vision and turns to see another NASCAR fan, just like him, seemingly waiting for a word.

“Sorry, how are you?” the tall guy says. “You could have interrupted!”

“Can I get a picture, Carson?” the fan says.

Meet Carson Hocevar, the disruptive 22-year-old who isn’t just one of NASCAR’s fastest-rising young stars — but also one of its biggest fans.

On this night, 48 hours before Hocevar finishes second in the NASCAR Cup Series race at the same track, the Spire Motorsports driver is following his normal routine: Making the trek across the infield grass to ascend into the grandstands to watch the lower-tier Truck and Xfinity races with the fans.

Though NASCAR is more accessible for its diehards than other big-league sports, there’s a barrier between the stands and the garage area — both physically and figuratively. Hocevar regularly breaks the fourth wall, so to speak, by choosing to watch races from a familiar viewpoint that reminds him of growing up. He’s as comfortable sitting among the race fans as he is in the Cup Series garage — if not more so, given how many drivers and teams he’s irked with his aggressive racing style.

From his perch in the bleachers, Carson Hocevar watches last weekend’s Truck Series race at Nashville. “I’ve always dreamt of being able to watch every race,” he says. “Now I’m here.” (Jeff Gluck / The Athletic)

We’ll get to that in a bit, but for now, there’s no sign of any animosity toward Hocevar as he trudges across Nashville’s thick infield grass and climbs the stairs into the grandstands. People already in their seats for the Truck race begin to notice and call out — something he said has become increasingly common of late.

“Hocevarrrrrr!” one older, long-haired man yells, raising his arms in a triumphant welcome.

Some fans leap from their seats and rush toward the aisle to offer a fist bump or handshake. A few ask for selfies. Others just clap and cheer at the site of a recognizable Cup driver among them.

“How cool is that?” a father says to his two young sons as Hocevar passes by.

When Hocevar reaches the concourse, his progress is slowed by people wanting to chat. A jam-up forms as one teen bro-hugs Hocevar like they’re old pals and asks for a signature. Another accuses Hocevar of wrecking his car several times on iRacing, an online simulator game; Hocevar asks the fan his name and acts like it rings a bell.

After the fan is out of earshot, Hocevar is asked if he really recognized the name or was just being polite.

“Oh yeah,” Hocevar says. “And I did wreck him.”

Carson Hocevar greets fans at Texas Motor Speedway in May. “He hasn’t changed at all,” longtime friend Christian Pitman says. “That’s why people like him.” (Austin McAfee / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Hocevar makes his way to Row 29 of Section 131, where a few Nashville-based friends are awaiting him. One of them is Christian Pitman, who used to race with Hocevar while growing up and has remained close through his buddy’s burgeoning NASCAR career.

“He hasn’t changed at all,” Pitman says. “I think that’s why people like him.”

He’s not exactly incognito, and so a steady stream of fans comes over to Hocevar’s row. At first, it’s actually unclear whether these are more of Hocevar’s Nashville friends or simply strangers approaching.

That’s because each time someone arrives in the aisle, Hocevar pops up from his seat like he’s been expecting them.

“Watching from the stands?” one fan says after getting his picture with Hocevar. “Don’t blame ya!”

But seriously, why would he do this? Why would a full-time NASCAR Cup Series driver watch races with fans, even if he is one himself?

“Why not?” he counters, puzzled. “I love it.”

That love doesn’t go both ways for Hocevar in the NASCAR world. While he possesses the type of personality many fans claim to want — he alternates between charming, brash, opinionated and startlingly frank — he has also angered many of the drivers he grew up watching (and thus their supporters, too).

Hocevar’s reputation is constantly a trending topic. He has crashed drivers on accident, on purpose and every shade of gray in between — often unapologetically.

Among his critics: former Cup champions Kyle Busch and Ryan Blaney, Hocevar’s own mentor Ross Chastain, and now Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who Hocevar sent crashing in Nashville on Sunday night.

While there’s a recurring narrative that accompanies fast young drivers who burst onto the NASCAR scene — it’s happened to the likes of Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, Busch, Chastain and many more — it’s also clear Hocevar has lost the benefit of the doubt.

“A lot of people were saying, ‘Well, is it just because he’s a young, aggressive driver?’” Blaney said in March. “He’s being a young, reckless guy in a lot of situations, and there’s a big, big difference.”

But in some ways this is all part of the plan for Hocevar, who carefully studied how drivers raced and reacted to various situations while growing up. He’s seen an inordinate amount of interviews and knows what resonated with him as a fan — and what he disliked. He’s determined to be the kind of driver he would have wanted to root for as a kid.

Not that he’s very far removed from actually being one.

Carson Hocevar celebrates a Truck Series win at Kansas in May. Now full-time in the Cup Series, he tied a career-best with a second-place finish last weekend in Nashville. (Chris Graythen / Getty Images)

With NASCAR racing at his home track of Michigan International Speedway this weekend, Hocevar briefly returned to his childhood home in Portage — a small city one hour south of Grand Rapids where, until recently, he was more well known for appearing in an oft-played commercial for his dad’s business (Scott’s Sports Cards, Coins and Jewelry) as a 9-year-old.

“Scott’s has a nice selection of Citizen Watches, all priced 50 percent off for the holidays!” a cheerful Hocevar tells the camera as “Jingle Bells” plays. “Happy Holidays!”

As recently as a few years ago, people would stop him in the grocery store not to chat about his up-and-coming NASCAR career — but to remark how much he’d grown up since seeing him in the ad. People in the Portage community were used to seeing Hocevar ride his bike all over town when he wasn’t off racing.

And when Hocevar returns to his family home, his bedroom has been largely untouched. The shelves still have autographed die-cast cars from the likes of Earnhardt Jr. and Kyle Busch — who has called Hocevar “a f— d— bag” and vowed to “wreck his ass” — and a signed Matt Kenseth photo.

“The only thing that’s different is I don’t have the Dale Jr. comforter on my bed anymore,” he says.

He’s retained an extensive collection of die-cast cars (it numbers in the hundreds and he’ll never get rid of it, he says), which includes the custom-made versions he decorated himself. Hocevar and his friends made stop-motion animation videos with the die-cast cars because “we were too old to play with them but too young to just let them sit there.”

One of those friends, Pitman, sits in the Nashville stands with his longtime buddy and pulls up an old Instagram page from an iRacing team Hocevar created as a kid. Hocevar has since lost the login for the chr_racing page, so it lives on as a time capsule from an 11-year-old’s summer hobby (“Instagram used to let you sign up with an unverified email address, and I have no idea what it was,” he says).

But it doesn’t bother him; Hocevar embraces his NASCAR fandom rather than running from it. In fact, he happily recounts one of his favorite memories as a 9-year-old: Having his name on the winning car in one of NASCAR YouTuber Eric Estepp’s stop-motion races.

“Winner: CarsonH814,” the video announced.

“I was so excited, I went to school the next day and told everyone I won,” Hocevar says.

Growing up in the meme-ified world of Gen Z has created a unique bridge from Hocevar to NASCAR’s younger audience, a demographic with which the sanctioning body has struggled to connect.

Hocevar not only streams his iRacing on Twitch, but he also did so in the middle of this year’s Daytona 500 when there was a rain delay (Spire has a sim rig setup in its hauler for Hocevar to use).

Earlier this spring, he bought a 1997 pickup truck off Facebook Marketplace just because it was decorated like Dale Earnhardt Sr.’s No. 3 GM Goodwrench ride — and now uses it as his daily driver.

He has his TV set to autoplay YouTube videos continuously and allows the algorithm to pick old NASCAR content for him. To demonstrate, he pulls out his phone: It’s showing the 2009 Pepsi 500 at California Speedway, which has just begun playing after an old postrace show from an October event at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

But Hocevar’s Very Online persona has also lent itself to another unique skill: Translating the digital world into real-life applications. NASCAR teams use high-tech driver-in-the-loop simulators to gather engineering feedback and influence vehicle setups; Hocevar performed so well in that area that it essentially earned him a chance with Spire.

“We popped him in the sim, and our sim game improved like 1,000 percent,” Spire co-owner Jeff Dickerson says, standing on pit road before the Nashville race. “We were like, ‘This is probably the direction NASCAR is going.’ All he does is watch racing, go to races, go on iRacing, go in the sim. What I liked about him is he’s just so fast, and this is all he’s thinking about, always.”

While Dickerson says he wishes Hocevar would have used a bit better judgment in some of the situations that have resulted in controversy, their daily texts typically don’t include any scolding. Dickerson doesn’t want to do anything to slow Hocevar down or “cage him,” he says; after all, Hocevar is on the cusp of winning races for a team that has never had a driver finish in the top 20 of the season point standings.

“I am not going to be like, ‘Hey, you’d better mind your P’s and Q’s,’” Dickerson says. “My thing is just: If you accidentally get run into, don’t act like a jackass. As a team owner, I just want him to show up to meetings on time, participate in competition meetings like the student of the game that he is, and to race his teammates with respect.”

Carson Hocevar talks with Fox Sports during last month’s All-Star weekend. Fan-friendly, outspoken, and often controversial on the track, he’s emerged as a must-watch driver. (James Gilbert / Getty Images)

Hocevar has repeatedly claimed in interviews that he doesn’t study data and drives off instinct, using his creativity to find lines others do not. And while the latter part of that statement may be true, Dickerson says the first part is total bunk and is tired of getting asked about it.

“He’s lying to you!” Dickerson says. “He is always studying! I live it every day. He’s constantly sending me things he’s looking at. He’s just at an age where it’s cool to say, ‘See? I don’t study! I just feel the air! I’m the next reincarnation of Dale Sr., don’t you guys get it?’ No, jacka—. It’s not instinct. He’s not God’s gift to race car driving. He works at this as much as anybody.”

To prove his point, Dickerson calls Hocevar over from a conversation with more fans.

“You keep telling people you don’t study s— or look at s—!” Dickerson says.

“What? I just say I don’t look at SMT data,” Hocevar says with the tone of a scolded teenager, referring to the sport’s real-time telemetry data.

“You look at everything, shut up,” Dickerson says.

“I know,” Hocevar replies with a shrug.

But even if Hocevar works harder than he’s willing to let on, he’s still somewhat of a racing savant. Back up in the stands, as the NASCAR Trucks circle around the track, he immediately diagnoses the things drivers should be doing differently and yells his feedback to no one in particular, drowned by the roar of the engines.

He wears no headset or ear plugs and rests his worn black Nikes — the only pair of casual shoes he owns — on the bleacher seat in front of him while holding a phone with Cup Series trophy wallpaper (“Motivation, man” he explains.) When drivers from Spire and Niece Motorsports (which gave Hocevar his break in the Truck Series) run afoul of his expectations, Hocevar unlocks the phone and furiously types feedback texts to friends on both teams in hopes of reaching the drivers.

“Message delivered,” one responds.

Other times, Hocevar simply leaps from his seat and makes exaggerated gestures at the drivers like any number of other fans in the stands — sometimes exasperated when they don’t listen to him, sometimes celebratory when they make a good move. And he has reason to celebrate at the end of the night because Spire teammate Rajah Caruth ends up in victory lane — as does Hocevar, being interviewed on TV in his red Dale Jr. shirt after congratulating Caruth.

Two nights later, other fans have taken his place in Row 29 of Section 131 and get to witness the full Hocevar experience: Being lightning quick en route to a second-place finish, but making more on-track enemies in the process.

Controversy aside, it’s a good night. For a kid who was once thrilled just to watch NASCAR Cup Series races, actually winning one no longer feels like such a distant dream.

(Illustration: Eamonn Dalton / The Athletic; Sean Gardner, James Gilbert/Getty Images)

Toni Breidinger continues to mix luxury fashion with stock car racing. The NASCAR Truck Series regular has a new deal. Coach, yes THAT Coach, will sponsor Breidinger for Michigan and Talladega.

The sponsorship for the Tricon Garage driver comes off the heels of an advertising campaign for the “SoHo Sneaker.” Breidinger was featured in the campaign and now, Coach is returning the favor in a way.

This is a brand that most would expect to see on an F1 car. Toni Breidinger is bringing luxury fashion and other hot brands, like 818 Tequila by Kendall Jenner, to NASCAR. The driver and model is a regular on pit road and on the red carpet.

Corey LaJoie, who currently competes part-time for Rick Ware Racing in the NASCAR Cup Series and serves as an analyst for NASCAR Cup Series coverage on Amazon Prime Video, was effectively traded from Spire Motorsports, where he had competed since 2021, to Rick Ware Racing for Justin Haley before the 2024 season ended.

Now LaJoie is set to return to Spire Motorsports, albeit in a lower series.

LaJoie has landed a nine-race deal to drive the No. 07 Chevrolet for Spire Motorsports in the Truck Series, and he is set to make his season debut this weekend at Michigan International Speedway, replacing Kyle Busch after Busch finished in 15th place at Nashville Superspeedway.

Corey LaJoie to replace Kyle Busch at Michigan

The 33-year-old Charlotte, North Carolina native has not competed in the Truck Series since the 2024 season opener, when he competed for Spire Motorsports at Daytona International Speedway. He also drove for the team in that race in 2023 before competing at Darlington Raceway. Prior to 2023, he hadn’t competed in the series since 2014.

As of now, Busch and LaJoie are the only two drivers lined up to drive the No. 07 Chevrolet later this year. Busch, who has driven both the No. 07 truck and the No. 7 truck in two races for Spire Motorsports so far this season, is set to make his final Truck Series start of 2025 in the race at Watkins Glen International no Sunday, August 8.

LaJoie is set to take over after that, competing in the final eight races of the season, including the entire three-round, seven-race postseason.

His nine-race deal leaves the No. 07 truck needing a driver for just three more races on the 2025 calendar, and those are the three races between LaJoie’s first start of the year and Busch’s last.

The team have yet to announce who will drive the truck in races 14, 15, and 16, which are scheduled to take place at Pocono Raceway, Lime Rock Park, and Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park.

What’s Happening?

Toni Breidinger and TRICON Garage announced a new primary sponsorship from luxury fashion brand Coach. The New York-based company will sponsor No. 5 this weekend in Michigan and this fall in Talladega.

Driver of the Hyak Motorsports No. 47 Chevrolet, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., has partnered with a popular beer brand co-founded by WWE star Hulk Hogan for this weekend’s FireKeepers Casino 400 NASCAR Cup Series race at the Michigan International Speedway.

Real American Beer is set to partner with the team for the second time this season, and as a result, the No. 47 car will feature a unique paint scheme dedicated to the premium light beer brand.

Stenhouse Jr. comes off the back of a disastrous weekend in Nashville, where Carson Hocevar crashed into him. The impact from the rear caused him to crash into the wall, resulting in a last-place finish in the race. Now, the Hyak Motorsports driver heads to Michigan with renewed energy. Addressing the upcoming race, he said:

“We didn’t get the result we were after in Nashville, and that’s frustrating for sure.

“But this team’s got heart. We’ve put in the work this week, and we’re heading to Michigan with a clean slate and a fast Real American Beer Chevy.”

Hulk Hogan shared his excitement for the race this weekend. He added:

“Brother, Michigan knows how to go full throttle—and so does Real American Beer. We’re back on the track, back in the fight, and there’s no better time to crack one open and let it rip.”

Real American Beer CEO Terri Francis revealed the brand’s strategy. He said:

“Motorsports fans have been some of our loudest supporters from day one. This partnership is part of our strategy to meet them where they are—on the road, in the stands and in the beer aisle.”

WWE star Jimmy Hart will also be present at the race track in Michigan for Real American Beer.

Stenhouse Jr. hinted after the Cup Series race in Nashville that payback was coming to Hocevar after the crash last week. Newsweek Sports reported:

“A lap or two before, he [Hocevar] tried to dive in there from about 10 car lengths back and then that time, I just opened my entry a little bit and he over-charged the corner and drilled us in the rear bumper.

“I’d say it’s not out of the norm from him, but I definitely wasn’t expecting that at that point of the race. It’s just a bummer for us.”

He added:

“Bummed our day ended like that. Definitely will have something to do about it at one point.”

Stenhouse Jr. confirmed after the race weekend that Hocevar had not approached him. It remains to be seen whether Stenhouse Jr. will take drastic action in Michigan.