23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports are currently in an antitrust lawsuit against NASCAR, and the latest news isn’t positive for the teams. On Wednesday, NASCAR said 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports have completed paperwork to compete as open teams starting at Dover Motor Speedway this weekend. Now, the sport could seek a repayment for the races with charters.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — A federal judge on Thursday rejected a request from 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports to continue racing with charters while they battle NASCAR in court, meaning their six cars will race as open entries this weekend at Dover, next week at Indianapolis and perhaps longer than that in a move the teams say would put them at risk of going out of business.

U.S. District Judge Kenneth Bell denied the teams’ bid for a temporary restraining order, saying they will make races over the next couple of weeks and they won’t lose their drivers or sponsors before his decision on a preliminary injunction.

Bell left open the possibility of reconsidering his decision if things change over the next two weeks.

After this weekend, the cars affected may need to qualify on speed if 41 entries are listed — a possibility now that starting spots have opened.

“We are disappointed that the court declined to grant 23XI and Front Row Motorsports a temporary restraining order to allow the teams to continue racing as chartered teams,” the teams’ attorney Jeffrey Kessler said in a statement. “We remain confident that our motion for a preliminary injunction is legally warranted and necessary, and we look forward to the court’s full review.”

23XI, which is co-owned by retired NBA great Michael Jordan, and FRM filed their federal suit against NASCAR last year after they were the only two organizations out of 15 to reject NASCAR’s extension offer on charters.

“We made the decision to bring this lawsuit to challenge NASCAR’s monopolistic practices and bullying tactics, and we are not going to let them push our teams – or others – out of the sport that they love,” Kessler’s statement said. “We are confident in the merits of our case and the teams remain focused on competing this weekend and continuing their playoff push.”

The case has a Dec. 1 trial date, but 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, sending the case back to Bell.

Three-time Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin co-owns 23XI with Jordan and said they were prepared to send Tyler Reddick, Bubba Wallace and Riley Herbst to the track each week as open teams. They sought the restraining order Monday, claiming that through discovery they learned NASCAR 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.”

“This is a fair and significant fear; however, NASCAR has agreed that it ‘will not sell any charters before the court can rule on plaintiffs’ motion for preliminary injunction,’” Ball wrote. “Similarly, plaintiffs worry that denying them guaranteed entry into the field for upcoming races could adversely impact their competitive standing, including their ability to earn a spot in the playoffs. Again, a legitimate, potentially irreparable harm. Yet, akin to the sale of charters, NASCAR represents to the court that all of plaintiffs’ cars will qualify (if they choose to race) for the races in Dover and Indianapolis that will take place during the next 14 days.”

Making the field 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 and that means lost revenue and a lost chance to win points in the standings.

Reddick was last year’s regular-season champion and raced for the Cup Series championship in the season finale. But none of the six drivers affected by the court ruling are locked into this year’s playoffs.

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

Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — A federal judge on Thursday rejected a request from 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports to continue racing with charters while they battle NASCAR in court, meaning their six cars will race as open entries this weekend at Dover, next week at Indianapolis and perhaps longer than that in a move the teams say would put them at risk of going out of business.

U.S. District Judge Kenneth Bell denied the teams’ bid for a temporary restraining order, saying they will make races over the next couple of weeks and they won’t lose their drivers or sponsors before his decision on a preliminary injunction.

Bell left open the possibility of reconsidering his decision if things change over the next two weeks.

After this weekend, the cars affected may need to qualify on speed if 41 entries are listed — a possibility now that starting spots have opened.

“We are disappointed that the court declined to grant 23XI and Front Row Motorsports a temporary restraining order to allow the teams to continue racing as chartered teams,” the teams’ attorney Jeffrey Kessler said in a statement. “We remain confident that our motion for a preliminary injunction is legally warranted and necessary, and we look forward to the court’s full review.”

23XI, which is co-owned by retired NBA great Michael Jordan, and FRM filed their federal suit against NASCAR last year after they were the only two organizations out of 15 to reject NASCAR’s extension offer on charters.

“We made the decision to bring this lawsuit to challenge NASCAR’s monopolistic practices and bullying tactics, and we are not going to let them push our teams – or others – out of the sport that they love,” Kessler’s statement said. “We are confident in the merits of our case and the teams remain focused on competing this weekend and continuing their playoff push.”

The case has a Dec. 1 trial date, but 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, sending the case back to Bell.

Three-time Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin co-owns 23XI with Jordan and said they were prepared to send Tyler Reddick, Bubba Wallace and Riley Herbst to the track each week as open teams. They sought the restraining order Monday, claiming that through discovery they learned NASCAR 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.”

“This is a fair and significant fear; however, NASCAR has agreed that it ‘will not sell any charters before the court can rule on plaintiffs’ motion for preliminary injunction,’” Ball wrote. “Similarly, plaintiffs worry that denying them guaranteed entry into the field for upcoming races could adversely impact their competitive standing, including their ability to earn a spot in the playoffs. Again, a legitimate, potentially irreparable harm. Yet, akin to the sale of charters, NASCAR represents to the court that all of plaintiffs’ cars will qualify (if they choose to race) for the races in Dover and Indianapolis that will take place during the next 14 days.”

Making the field 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 and that means lost revenue and a lost chance to win points in the standings.

Reddick was last year’s regular-season champion and raced for the Cup Series championship in the season finale. But none of the six drivers affected by the court ruling are locked into this year’s playoffs.

___

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

Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

“This is a fair and significant fear; however, NASCAR has agreed that it ‘will not sell any charters before the court can rule on plaintiffs’ motion for preliminary injunction,’” Ball wrote. “Similarly, plaintiffs worry that denying them guaranteed entry into the field for upcoming races could adversely impact their competitive standing, including their ability to earn a spot in the playoffs. Again, a legitimate, potentially irreparable harm. Yet, akin to the sale of charters, NASCAR represents to the court that all of plaintiffs’ cars will qualify (if they choose to race) for the races in Dover and Indianapolis that will take place during the next 14 days.”

23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports will compete as Open teams this weekend at Dover Motor Speedway and next weekend at Indianapolis Motor Speedway after being denied a temporary restraining order to keep NASCAR from revoking their charters. 

The teams, which field a combine six entries, are not guaranteed spots in the NASCAR Cup Series race. However, they are not in danger of missing this weekend’s event as there are not more than 40 teams on the entry list. Both organizations had raced as charter entries since the season began after being granted a preliminary injunction in December.

United States District Judge Kenneth Bell ruled that 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports “failed to established irreparable harm to support entry of a TRO.” But the issue of the preliminary injunction (a new request filed by the teams to be recognized as charter teams through the end of the year) was not ruled on Thursday, and NASCAR told the court the charters will not be sold before the ruling is made. 

“We are disappointed that the court declined to grant 23XI and Front Row Motorsports a temporary restraining order to allow the teams to continue racing as chartered teams,” said Jeffrey Kessler, the lead counsel for 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports. “We remain confident that our motion for a preliminary injunction is legally warranted and necessary, and we look forward to the court’s full review.

“The court made it clear it is only denying the temporary restraining order because NASCAR has agreed to preserve our charters until the preliminary injunction can be decided and because we are assured of qualifying all our cars the next two weeks so that there will be no irreparable harm before the preliminary injunction can be fully briefed and ruled upon.

“We made the decision to bring this lawsuit to challenge NASCAR’s monopolistic practices and bullying tactics, and we are not going to let them push our teams — or others — out of the sport that they love. We are confident in the merits of our case and the teams remain focused on competing this weekend and continuing their playoff push.”

The courts have ruled against 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports in their request for a temporary restraining order (TRO) as they seek a new preliminary injunction. The hope was that they would secure a TRO in order to prevent NASCAR from revoking their charters, but that has failed. They will compete as open entries at Dover Motor Speedway this weekend. 

23XI fields the No. 23 of Bubba Wallace, No. 35 of Riley Herbst, and the No. 45 of Tyler Reddick. FRM has the the No. 4 of Noah Gragson, the No. 34 of Todd Gilliland, and the No. 38 of Zane Smith.

Of note, the judge said they would reconsider the court’s denial of the TRO if the teams were actually in danger of missing the race, but only 37 cars have entered with NASCAR allowing up to 40 before sending cars home. Should 23XI and FRM end up in danger of missing a race due to field size, that could qualify as irreparable harm and a TRO may actually be granted.

How we got here

Michael McDowell, Front Row Motorsports Ford; Tyler Reddick, 23XI Racing Toyota

Photo by: Jeff Robinson/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Originally, 23XI and FRM were granted an injunction in December of last year, which allowed them to compete under the 2025 Charter Agreement while suing NASCAR over that very same agreement. They specifically targeted a release clause (the ability of either party to file a lawsuit) while claiming NASCAR operated as an unlawful monopoly and violated antitrust laws. 

Both FRM and 23XI went out and purchased a charter from the now-defunct Stewart-Haas Racing, expanding into three-car teams for the new year. However, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals revoked that injunction on June 5th. The teams attempted to get a rehearing, but were denied. 

What happens next?

Denny Hamlin, Michael Jordan

Photo by: Chris Graythen – Getty Images

They then filed a request for a TRO and a new preliminary injunction in order to hold onto the charters, citing new evidence and stating NASCAR intended to immediately sell the charters. The injunction was not part of Thursday’s ruling, and NASCAR has assured the courts that the charters will not be sold before that ruling.

Financially, this is a massive blow as they will miss out on a lot of the weekly purse money. Certain contracts with partners and even drivers may also be voided with no charter present, and should more than 40 cars show up for any given race weekend, they would be forced to qualify on time with no guaranteed starting spot.

This does not directly impact the championship in any way, as open teams are welcomed to compete for the title and operate under the same rules as the chartered teams. However, there are no open teams (until now) choosing to contest the full-season because it is financially unfeasible for most.