NASCAR has promised a federal court it will not redistribute any charters pending the conclusion of the antitrust lawsuit filed against the stock-car racing series and sanctioning body by two teams from its top-tier Cup Series.
The filing Friday in the Western District of North Carolina came one day after a heated hearing in which 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports argued for a preliminary injunction to have six charters (three each) restored to them until the jury trial, which scheduled to begin Dec. 1 — a few weeks after the 2025 season concludes.
NASCAR in multiple filings has indicated it immediately planned to redistribute charters and has one interested party it could negotiate with right now.
A charter is the equivalent of a franchise in other sports, and after 23XI and Front Row refused to sign new agreements last September, both organizations sued NASCAR. They have accused the motorsports series owned and operated by the Florida-based France family of being bullies and monopolizing the market for stock-car racing in the United States.
There are 36 charters for a 40-car field at Cup Series races, and U.S. District Judge Kenneth Bell on Thursday repeatedly asked NASCAR why it couldn’t take one of the four open spots to sell to an interested buyer, or come up with a contingency plan that would leave room to return charters to 23XI and Front Row if NASCAR loses at trial.
The original four open charters are set aside for any potential new manufacturer to enter the sport — currently, Chevrolet, Ford and Toyota compete in the Cup Series — and counting the six charters from the two organizations suing, there are technically 10 open charters right now.
Front Row, which is owned by entrepreneur Bob Jenkins, and 23XI — which is owned by Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin, retired NBA legend Michael Jordan and his business manager Curtis Polk — want to be recognized as chartered for 2025 to receive significantly larger payouts than what they receive as open teams.
Bell said he would rule on the injunction next week, although NASCAR’s filing Friday calms some of the urgency in that the France family has promised not to sell the charters, a move the teams claim would put them out of business.
NASCAR said its commitment was voluntary and done for “NASCAR’s desire to focus both on growing the sport for the 2026 Cup Series season and preparing for the trial.” NASCAR said in the filing it won’t “issue, sell, convey, or lease any additional Charters for the 2025 Cup Series season,” a declaration that covers all six charters, and that “it will not issue, sell, convey, or lease more than four additional Charters for the 2026 Cup Series season.”
Jeffrey Kessler, an attorney for 23XI and Front Row, said NASCAR’s promise not to sell the charters was moot and said they will answer the filing Tuesday.
“Plaintiffs further do not agree that Defendants’ notice and representations demonstrate Plaintiffs face no irreparable harm,” he said.
NASCAR halting any potential sale of charters does not technically stop Bell from issuing the preliminary injunction to the two organizations, which are trying to show the irreparable harm they will face if they don’t have charters for all six of their teams. Tyler Reddick, who drives for 23XI, has a clause in his contract that says he can leave if his car is not chartered, and Kessler indicated in court Thursday that both the driver and team sponsors have notified them they are currently in breach.
Thursday’s hearing revealed just how acrimonious it has become between NASCAR and the two suing organizations through the disclosure of expletive-laden emails and text messages.
Of the 15 chartered organizations in NASCAR, only 23XI and Front Row refused to sign the charter extensions, but many teams have said they felt cornered by the final offer, which came with a deadline and a threat to revoke the charters if they did not sign within a day.
The teams used texts and emails to attempt to show how NASCAR bullied its way into a final charter agreement.
One, from NASCAR commissioner Steve Phelps, read: “Give them the charters, pick a date and they can sign or they can lose their charters — it is that simple.’
Scott Prime, the vice president of strategic development for the series, wrote: “We have all the leverage and the teams will almost have to sign whatever charter terms we put in front of them.”
Jordan said outside court Thursday he had been open to a settlement but is willing to see the case go to jury trial.
The Cup Series playoffs begin with Sunday’s Southern 50o at South Carolina’s Darlington raceway, and among the drivers in the 16-driver field as the 10-race postseason begins are Reddick and Bubba Wallace of 23XI, as well as Hamlin in his JGR entry. All three said they believe they can fairly compete for the Cup Series championship while the lawsuit is ongoing.
