RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A three-judge federal appellate panel indicated Friday it might overturn an injunction that allows 23XI Racing, co-owned by retired NBA great Michael Jordan and veteran driver Denny Hamlin, and Front Row Motorsports to race as chartered teams in NASCAR this season while the two teams sue the stock car series over alleged antitrust violations.

NASCAR attorney Chris Yates argued the injunction, granted in December by U.S. District Judge Kenneth Bell of the Western District of North Carolina, forced the series into an unwanted relationship with unwilling partners, and that it harms other teams because they earn less money.

Yates said the district court broke precedent by granting the injunction, saying the “release” clause in the charter contracts forbidding the teams from suing is “common.” He argued, essentially, that the teams should not have the benefits of the charter system they are suing to overturn.

Overturning the injunction would leave the two organizations able to race but without any of the perks of being chartered, including guaranteed weekly revenue. They would also have to qualify at every Cup Series event to make the field, which currently has only four open spots each week; 23XI and Front Row are each running three cars in Cup this season.

Judges Steven Agee, Paul Niemeyer and Stephanie Thacker, at multiple points during the 50-minute hearing at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth District, pushed back on the argument made by plaintiff’s attorney Jeffrey Kessler, who accused NASCAR of being a monopoly.

“There’s no other place to compete,” Kessler told the judges, later noting that overturning the injunction would cause tremendous damage to the two teams, which could lose drivers and sponsors. “It will cause havoc to overturn this injunction in the middle of the season.”

The teams filed the antitrust lawsuit against NASCAR on Oct. 2 in the Western District of North Carolina, arguing that the series bullied teams into signing new charters that make it difficult to compete financially. That came after two years of failed negotiations on new charter agreements, which is NASCAR’s equivalent of franchise deals.

23XI – co-owned by Jordan, Hamlin and Curtis Polk, a longtime Jordan business partner – and Front Row Motorsports, were the only two out of 15 charter-holding teams that refused to sign new agreements in September.

The charters, which teams originally signed before the 2016 season, have twice been extended. The most recent extension runs until 2031, matching the current media rights deal. It guarantees that 36 of the 40 available spots in weekly races will go to teams holding charters.

The judges expressed agreement with Yates’s argument that the district court had erred in issuing the injunction allowing the teams to race, because it mandated they sign the NASCAR charter but eliminated the contract’s release.

“It seems you want to have your cake and eat it, too,” Niemeyer told Kessler.

At another point, the judge pointedly told Kessler that if the teams want to race, they should sign the charter.

Yates contended that forcing an unwanted relationship between NASCAR and the two teams “harms NASCAR and other racing teams.” He said that more chartered teams would earn more money if not for the injunction and noted that the two teams are being “given the benefits of a contract they rejected.”

Kessler argued that even if the district court’s reasoning was flawed, other evidence should lead the circuit court to uphold the injunction. Niemayer disagreed.

“The court wanted you to be able to race but without a contract,” he said.

A trial date is set for December and Agee strongly urged the sides to meet for mediation — previously ordered by a lower court — to attempt to resolve the dispute over the injunction.

“It’ll be a very interesting trial,” Agee said with a wry smile.

The prospect of successful mediation seems unlikely. Yates told the judges: “We’re not going to rewrite the charter.”

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AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

The Nos Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals have been named the second best motorsports race in the country according to the USA Today’s 10Best Reader’s Choice List.

The Nationals which is a familiar event to those in Iowa, especially Knoxville, finished ahead of several other prestigious racing events including the Daytona 500, Indianapolis 500, and the Las Vegas Grand Prix. The Nationals which are held the second weekend in August is the premier event in sprint car racing and attracts thousands of race fans to Knoxville every year. The Nationals finished second in the same list last year and third in 2023.

This year’s Knoxville Nationals will be held August 6-9.

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KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Kyle Larson took most of the drama out of his second straight spring victory at Kansas Speedway on Sunday.

After putting his No. 5 car on the pole for Hendrick Motorsports, Larson led 221 of 267 laps, winning both stages and cruising to his third NASCAR Cup Series win of the season. He was never challenged down the stretch by second-finishing Christopher Bell — and he most certainly didn’t need another last-lap pass to win at the wire like he did a year ago.

The margin over Chris Buescher then was 0.001 seconds, the closest in Cup Series history. It was 0.712 seconds on Sunday.

“Glad to not win by an inch this time,” Larson said with a smile. “A little safer gap.”

Larson, who also has wins at Homestead and Bristol, has finished in the top four in each of his past four Cup Series races, and now he will take that momentum to Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Larson will be on track Tuesday as he begins another shot at “the Double” — running every lap of the Indianapolis 500 and Coca-Cola 600 on the same day Memorial Day weekend.

Last year, he contended in the rain-delayed Indy 500 before a speeding penalty on pit road resulted in an 18th-place finish. He then hopped a flight to Charlotte for the NASCAR race, but rain there kept him from ever completing a lap.

“It’s a cool win here at Kansas,” Larson said in victory lane, “and now we’ll try to execute two good weeks at Indy.”

Even though Larson spent most of a hot, sunny day at Kansas in the lead, he found himself trailing Chase Elliott early in the final stage. But when Elliott’s team dropped the jack too soon before his right rear tire was on during a pit stop, Larson was able to get back to the front on the restart, and he spent the last 50 laps cruising to the checkered flag.

Bell, a three-time winner already, finished in the top three for the sixth time this season. Ryan Blaney came in third, giving Team Penske another good run after Austin Cindric won two weeks ago at Talladega and Joey Logano won last week at Texas.

“I was just trying to get to the end. I know Ryan was coming on really strong there,” Bell said. “I feel like our day was kind of a product of qualifying well and having good pit stops and restarts.”

Blaney knew he was coming on strong, too, but he was left to lament what might have been.

“We were kind of running those guys down quick,” Blaney said. “A few more laps, I would have scared the 5 a bit at least.”

Chase Briscoe finished fourth and Larson’s teammate Alex Bowman rounded out the top five.

Brad Keselowski looked as if he might finally have his first top-10 finish this season. He started from the rear but steadily made his way forward, and the 2012 series champion had moved into second behind Elliott when his right rear went down with 72 laps to go. Keselowski wound up in the wall, ending his hopes of contending.

“I mean, it was going to be a great day,” Keselowski said. “I heard a big boom and around it went. It’s unfortunate.”

Denny Hamlin also had a fast car all afternoon, but he wound up fighting a clutch problem that made pitting a nightmare. He was still running with the leaders before Keselowski’s caution, when yet more clutch trouble finally ruined his day.

“Really fast again,” Hamlin said. “Just can’t keep it together right now.”

There had been only one non-stage caution before Keselowski hit the wall. Cody Ware, Daniel Suarez and Ty Dillon brought out another in a wreck on the restart; Kyle Busch was bumped and spun to bring out another yellow on the next restart; and Justin Haley, Erik Jones and Bubba Wallace were involved in another wreck on a third consecutive restart.

Larson won for the 32nd time, and joined Hamlin and Busch as the only active Cup Series drivers to have led more than 10,000 laps. … Briscoe was fourth for the fourth time this season. He has yet to finish better. … Larson made it three straight wins for Chevrolet at Kansas Speedway. Ross Chastain won the fall race last season. … Hamlin’s streak of seven straight top-10s at Kansas ended. He finished 36th. … Logano challenged for second late in the race before finishing ninth.

The All-Star Race is up next Sunday at North Wilkesboro, where Logano is the defending champ. There are changes to the format this year, including an optional promoter’s caution flag, which could dramatically reshape the 250-lap race.

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AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing