CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — A three-judge federal appellate panel ruled Thursday in favor of NASCAR in the antitrust lawsuit filed by two teams, one owned by Michael Jordan, and vacated an injunction that required 23XI and Front Row be recognized as chartered teams as their case snakes through the legal system.

Both race teams sued NASCAR late last year after refusing to sign new agreements on charter renewals. The charter system is similar to franchises in other sports, but the charters are revocable by NASCAR and have expiration dates. 23XI, which is owned by Jordan and three-time Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin, joined Front Row in suing NASCAR after 13 other organizations signed the renewals.

The two teams sued and asked for a temporary injunction that would recognize them as chartered teams for this season. The antitrust case isn’t scheduled to be heard until December.

The teams said they needed the injunction because the current charter agreement prohibits them from suing NASCAR. 23XI also argued it would be harmed because Tyler Reddick’s contract would have made him a free agent if the team could not guarantee him a charter-protected car.

The original judge ruled that NASCAR’s charter agreement likely violated antitrust law in granting the injunction. But when they heard arguments last month, the three judges at the the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in Richmond, Virginia, indicated they were skeptical of that decision.

The judges said in Thursday’s ruling they were not aware of any case that supports the lower court’s theory of antitrust law, so they vacated the injunction.

The teams have 14 days to appeal to the full court. The injunction also has no bearings on the merits of the case.

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Michael Jordan‘s ongoing court battle with NASCAR on behalf of his 23XI race team took a major hit on Thursday when a federal judge overturned a previously granted preliminary injunction. The injunction allowed 23XI, as well as Front Row Motorsports, to compete as chartered teams while the lawsuit took place despite not signing the latest charter agreement.

The charters guaranteed 23XI’s three full-time drivers: Bubba Wallace, Tyler Reddick, and Riley Herbst, a spot in each of the 36 races this season. They also guarantee teams far larger payouts at each race, and sponsorship agreements are often tied to teams holding NASCAR charters.

Both 23XI and Front Row Motorsports refused to sign the current charter agreement, alleging that NASCAR strong-armed other teams into doing so by using monopolistic and anti-competitive practices.

Latest Court Ruling Could Leave Michael Jordan’s 23XI NASCAR Team In A Bad Spot

According to Jordan Bianchi of The Athletic, “If NASCAR chooses to follow through by stripping the charters, the teams would lose approximately a combined quarter billion dollars in charter values in addition to the lower race winnings they will now receive.”

The teams may still, and are expected to, appeal the ruling by the federal court.

In addition to the financial ramifications, both 23XI and Front Row Motorsports risk losing its star drivers amid the new ruling.

23XI driver Tyler Reddick, who finished fourth in the 2024 Cup standings, has an opt-out clause in his contract and could become a free agent if the team does not secure a charter for next season. The same clause is believed to be included in the contract for driver Bubba Wallace.

Both Reddick and Wallace bring significant sponsorship dollars to the team.

NASCAR must now also ask itself if it wants to risk alienating an owner of Jordan’s stature. Yes, the series will be fine without Jordan, as it was before he came on board in 2021. But at a time where NASCAR is looking to find new audiences, turning away perhaps the most recognizable name in the sports world is one heck of a gamble.

The agreement, which runs through 2027, will feature primary sponsorship of the No. 24 Chevrolet, as well as branding with pit crew athletes and a presence in Hendrick Motorsports’ new athletic center.

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CONCORD, N.C. – This weekend, stock car racing’s biggest show heads for the Irish Hills.

After completing 400 miles at Nashville Superspeedway last week, Hendrick Motorsports will be looking to add a ninth win to its overall total at Michigan International Speedway.

Last season, William Byron earned a career-best result at Michigan when he finished second to Tyler Reddick. He will be looking to move up one spot on the podium this weekend. 

In addition to three career Michigan wins, Kyle Larson has two top tens at the track in the Next Gen era. He’s finished in the top seven in four of his last five starts there. Chase Elliott, meanwhile, has the best average finish (10.5) of any active driver with more than three starts at Michigan. Alex Bowman has scored points in four of the last six stages there and finished ninth in 2022.

All four drivers will look to take Hendrick Motorsports back to victory lane at Michigan for the first time since Jeff Gordon’s 2014 triumph.

Let’s take a look the full weekend schedule below:

RELATED: Check out the paint schemes for Michigan

Jeff Gordon relives his 1995 championship season with a photoshoot of the trophies he won that year.

Where is NASCAR racing this weekend? 

NASCAR will race at Michigan International Superspeedway this weekend.

What time is the NASCAR race on today?

(All times listed in eastern time)

Friday, June 6

• 1 p.m. – CRAFTSMAN Truck Series practice, no TV
• 2 – ARCA practice, no TV
• 3:05 – ARCA qualifying, no TV
• 5 – ARCA race, FS2

Saturday, June 7

• 8:05 a.m. – CRAFTSMAN Truck Series qualifying, FS1
• 9:30 – Cup Series practice, Prime Video
• 10:40 – Cup Series qualifying, Prime Video
• Noon – CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race, FOX

Sunday, June 8

Totalplay, Mexico’s leading telecommunications provider, will serve as Carson Hocevar’s primary sponsor when the NASCAR Cup Series makes its inaugural visit to Mexico City, Mexico for the Viva Mexico 250 at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez.

Totalplay delivers top-quality connectivity and entertainment services through its 100 percent fully fiber-optic, direct-to-home network. Its commitment to innovation and excellence has positioned the company as the provider with the fastest internet, best service, and most advanced technology in the market.

Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez – a 17-turn, 2.674-mile road course located in the heart of Mexico’s capital city – hosted the NASCAR Xfinity Series four times from 2004-2008. Last August, NASCAR announced it would bring the Cup Series to the historic venue and contest a points-paying race outside the United States for the first time since 1958 when the series raced in Toronto, Canada.

“We’ve seen a lot of growth for the sport over the last several years, and because of that, I think it’s time that we have an international race and give that a try,” said Hocevar. “This car has put on a good race on the road courses and it will be interesting to see how it does on a track where we see other high-level motorsports series compete.

“I’m looking forward to seeing how we unload at Mexico. The No. 77 team has put in a lot of effort to improve and find consistency from week to week no matter what type of course we’re racing. We finished 2024 with a strong finish at Watkins Glen and had made a lot of progress overall with our road course program. I expect we’ll have speed and since everyone is on an even playing field to start, we should have a good shot at a decent starting position. From there we’ll just learn with every lap and hope to be fighting for the win.”

As the Mexican leader in ultra-fast internet, the Totalplay pairing with Spire Motorsports’ ultra-fast sophomore sensation couldn’t come at a more opportune time.

Meanwhile, Hocevar has good reason to be optimistic heading into the second road-course race of 2025. Last September, the Portage, Mich., native turned in what was then career-best third place finish at the Go Bowling at the Glen at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International. Since then, the 22-year-old driver has upped the ante in circle track competition, notching runner-up finishes this season at Atlanta Motor Speedway and most recently, Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway.

The 2024 Sunoco Rookie of the Year is currently 17th in the NASCAR Cup Series championship point standings and sits just four points outside the top 15. Hocevar continues to impress during his sophomore Cup Series campaign, posting a pair of top-two and trio of top-10 finishes over this season’s first 14 races.

The Viva Mexico 250 from Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in will be streamed live on Amazon Prime Sunday, June 15, beginning at 3 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. The NASCAR Cup Series inaugural race in Mexico City, Mexico will also be broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, Channel 90.

Spire Motorsports PR

What’s Happening?

The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit has ruled in favor of NASCAR and overturned a Dec. 18 ruling that allowed the two teams suing NASCAR, 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports, to race as chartered entries in 2025.

The teams have 14 days to petition for a rehearing. At the earliest the judgment will not take effect until seven days after that 14 day deadline or 21 days from now. This date would be Jun. 26, two days before the NASCAR Cup Series race at EchoPark Speedway in Atlanta.

This ruling overturns the Dec. 18 decision that granted 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports their two charters each for the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season. That Dec. 18 ruling also granted the two teams one charter each that they had purchased from the now-shuttered Stewart-Haas Racing, totaling three charters per team.

In NASCAR’s appeal brief filed on Feb. 12, the sport claimed that the court’s Dec. 18 decision “was fraught with errors, both legally and factually.” The two sides made their case to the appeals court on May 9, and saw the Judges pushed back at the teams claims.

The teams filed their initial preliminary injunction to compete as chartered teams on Oct. 9; they failed to obtain that initial injunction but refiled it on Nov. 27. The teams felt they needed this injunction as a release in the NASCAR Charter Agreement prohibited teams signing the agreement from suing NASCAR.

Today’s ruling stated in regards to that release provision:

“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 participant 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.”

Background

NASCAR’s charter system allows charter-owning teams to automatically start in the first position in NASCAR Cup Series races and receive valuable revenue sharing via NASCAR’s media rights deal. By not signing the new NASCAR Charter Agreement last fall, 23XI and FRM forfeited these benefits until the now-overturned Dec. 18 ruling granted them these rights.

This decision, should it not be overturned, could have a ripple effect on the NASCAR world.

For example, a major aspect of the now vacated ruling was the team’s claim that drivers and sponsors could leave the teams if they did not have their charters for the duration of their Oct. 2 lawsuit. The Dec. 18 filing claimed that Bubba Wallace, Corey Heim, Noah Gragson, and Tyler Reddick contacted their teams about free agency if they did not have Charters. Now, with this status gone, the teams could face this issue again.

Furthermore, if there are six combined charters re-entering the market, a limited number of teams could expand to two or even three cars apiece. Either way, this decision by the United States Court of Appeals could have a major impact on the future of NASCAR Silly Season.

We have covered this lawsuit extensively via the timeline linked below. This is a developing story and will be updated as new information is available.

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