CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — A federal judge urged NASCAR and two of its teams, including one owned by retired NBA great Michael Jordan, to settle their increasingly acrimonious legal fight that spilled over into tense arguments during a hearing on Tuesday.

U.S. District Judge Kenneth Bell of the Western District of North Carolina grilled both NASCAR and the teams — 23XI Racing, which is owned by Jordan and three-time Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin, and Front Row Motorsports, owned by entrepreneur Bob Jenkins — on what they hoped to accomplish in the antitrust battle that has loomed over the stock car series for months.

“It’s hard to picture a winner if this goes to the mat — or to the flag — in this case,” Bell said. “It scares me to death to think about what all this is costing.”

23XI and Front Row were the only two organizations that refused to sign a take-it-or-leave-it offer from NASCAR last September on a new charter agreement. Charters are NASCAR’s version of a franchise model, with each charter guaranteeing entry to the lucrative Cup Series races and a stable revenue stream; 13 other teams signed the agreements last fall, with some contending they had little choice.

The nearly two-hour hearing was on the teams’ request to toss out NASCAR’s countersuit, which accuses Jordan business manager Curtis Polk of “willfully” violating antitrust laws by orchestrating anticompetitive collective conduct in negotiations. NASCAR said it learned in discovery that Polk in messages among the 15 teams tried to form a “cartel” type operation that would include threats of boycotting races and a refusal to individually negotiate.

FILE – Bob Jenkins, owner of Front Row Motorsports, and Michael Jordan, co-owner of 23XI Racing, pose before a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Talladega Superspeedway, Oct. 6, 2024, in Talladega, Ala. (AP Photo/Butch Dill, File)

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One of NASCAR’s attorneys even cited a Benjamin Franklin quote Polk allegedly sent to the 15 organizations that read: “We must all hang together, or most assuredly we shall all hang separately.”

Jeffrey Kessler, an attorney representing the teams, was angered by the revelation in open court, contending it is privileged information only revealed in discovery. Kessler also argued none of NASCAR’s claims in the countersuit prove anything illegal was done by Polk or the Race Team Alliance during the charter negotiation process.

“NASCAR knows it has no defense to the monopolization case so they have come up with this claim about joint negotiations, which they agreed to, never objected to, and now suddenly it’s an antitrust violation,” Kessler said outside court. “It makes absolutely no sense. It’s not going to help them deflect from the monopolizing they have done in this market and the harm they have inflicted.”

He added that “the attacks” on Polk were “false, unfounded and frankly beneath the dignity of my adversary to even make those type of comments, which he should know better about.”

NASCAR attorneys said Polk improperly tried to pressure all 15 teams that comprise the RTA to stand together collectively in negotiations and encouraged boycotting qualifying races for the 2024 Daytona 500. NASCAR, they said, took the threat seriously because the teams had previously boycotted a scheduled meeting with series executives.

“NASCAR knew the next step was they could boycott a race, which was a threat they had to take seriously,” attorney Lawrence Buterman said on behalf of NASCAR.

Kessler said outside court the two teams are open to settlement talks, but noted NASCAR has said it will not renegotiate the charters. NASCAR’s attorneys declined to comment after the hearing.

Bell did not indicate when he’d rule, other than saying he would decide quickly.

Preliminary injunction status

Kessler said he would file an appeal by the end of the week after a three-judge federal appellate panel dismissed a preliminary injunction that required NASCAR to recognize 23XI and Front Row as chartered teams while the court fight is being resolved.

Kessler wants the issue heard by the full appellate court. The injunction has no bearing on the merits of the case, which is scheduled to go to trial in December. The earliest NASCAR can treat the teams as unchartered is one week after the deadline to appeal, provided there is no pending appeal or whenever the appeals process has been exhausted.

There are 36 chartered cars for the 40-car field each week. If 23XI and Front Row are not recognized as chartered, their six cars would have to compete as “open” teams — which means they’d have to qualify on speed each week to make the race and they would receive a fraction of the money guaranteed for chartered teams.

Discovery issues

Some of the arguments Tuesday centered on Jonathan Marshall, the executive director of the RTA. NASCAR has demanded text messages and emails from Marshall and says it has received roughly 100 texts and over 55,000 pages of emails.

NASCAR wants all texts between Marshall and 55 people from 2020 through 2024 that contain specific search terms. Attorneys for the RTA said that covers more than 3,000 texts, some of which are privileged, and some that have been “deleted to save storage or he didn’t need them anymore.”

That issue is set to be heard during a hearing next Tuesday before Bell.

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Brad Hollinger is seeking a new investor to join the IndyCar Series team he co-owns with Ricardo Juncos.

The operation based in Speedway, Ind., fields a pair of full-time entries under the Juncos Hollinger Racing banner, which competed in IndyCar from 2017-19 as Juncos Racing, left due to a lack of funding, and returned in 2021 after Hollinger made a sizable investment in the team and provide the annual operating budget for the company’s relaunch.

In his fifth year of IndyCar team ownership, the founder and CEO of Vibra Healthcare says he loves the direction Roger Penske is taking the series and is looking to strengthen JHR’s future with the addition of a new partner to take an ownership stake that’s similar to his own.

Under the original plan, the team would use Hollinger’s investment to get up to speed before taking on the responsibility of sourcing the $8-10 million needed to run each car per season, but minimal progress was made in that regard through the 2024 season.

Continuing to cover JHR’s sponsorship shortfalls lost most of its appeal, and in response, a significant change was made for 2025 with a switch from paying both drivers to turning its second car into a for-hire opportunity that was taken by Sting Ray Robb and his group of backers. Conor Daly was hired to drive JHR’s primary entry, which is funded by Hollinger/JHR and sponsors brought by Daly.

Having retooled the program in the last 18 months under the guidance of ex-Formula 1 team manager Dave O’Neill, Hollinger has approved the expansion of JHR’s infrastructure, additions to its engineering department, and continues to work with Juncos on developing the outfit’s commercial sales team. The next step is bringing a new name to the masthead.

“We do have a good commercial program this year and it’s being helped by what’s happening with the sport overall. I’m thrilled with the progress of IndyCar and particularly with FOX Sports and the whole momentum Penske has going with the series. I’m excited for where we are,” Hollinger told RACER.

“So that’s been a big boost this year. Revenue has come in much more meaningfully. We have a paying driver and his sponsors bring a substantial source of capital into the organization as well. So that’s been good, but prior to this year, it’s been nearly 100 percent me. So yes, I would like to bring in a partner to join me. It could come in multiple forms. It could be a wealthy individual or individuals, or it could be an institution, an equity group. There are a couple lines in the water for sure and there’s interest.”

Hollinger came to IndyCar with Juncos after buying into the Williams Formula 1 team in 2014 and continues to use the relationships formed during his years in F1 to enrich and improve JHR. Racing is the American’s passion, which has been demonstrated through his extended financial support of the team. But he’s also involved for other reasons.

“I didn’t get into this just for giggles,” he said. “One, I’m a businessman. Ultimately, I would like to make a return on my investment in the future. But most importantly, I would like to win races and compete against the Ganassis and the Penskes and Andrettis and be right up there at the tip of the arrow.

“We brought in Dave O’Neill, brought in a couple other people from Formula 1, and they’ve been quite helpful. He’s got a huge group of friends in F1 that are technologically really strong. Now the next step is we need to do more RD&E (research, development and engineering). That’s where the difference is between us and those top teams right now, and that requires some increased capital as well. Enhancing the simulator and doing more testing, Getting the use of AI much more significantly into our business. I do that in our hospital business and there’s huge opportunities there in IndyCar racing,

“To use AI in a sophisticated way, that does require some capital as well. RD&E is where the biggest differences are made. So that’s where I’d see a new partner-investor as being important for us.”

Mike Shank joined IndyCar in 2017 with his Michael Shank Racing team and added Jim Meyer as a co-owner and investor in 2018, which returned as Meyer Shank Racing. Bobby Rahal and Carl Hogan formed Rahal-Hogan Racing in 1992, split, saw the team evolve into Team Rahal, and later added David Letterman and Mike Lanigan to become IndyCar’s only three-name outfit as Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. If Hollinger finds the right partner, Juncos Hollinger Racing could become the series’ second three-name program.

“Absolutely, yes, we could add a name, or it could be a different moniker altogether,” he said. “We would want to promote the team in the most significant way and create some excitement, maybe do something a bit more on the unique side. So I’m open to a change in the name down the road, but we’ve got to first get some business done before that happens.”