On Friday, NASCAR submitted a legal filing over the matter of whether or not 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports asking a federal judge to force the transfer of a purchased Stewart-Haas Racing charter should be stricken from the record as a procedural matter.
This is part of the ongoing antitrust lawsuit brought by the teams against the sanctioning body following two-plus years of negotiations over renewing the charter agreement that governs the economy of the Cup Series.
Before the legal process can play out properly, the Western District of North Carolina must determine whether or not NASCAR should temporarily grant charter status to the two organizations. However, there is also the matter of two Stewart-Haas chatters purchased, one each, by 23XI and FRM.
NASCAR must approve all transfers but are not currently doing so for the SHR charters on the basis that 23XI and FRM are acquiring documents that had terms agreed upon by its previous owners but not the organizations suing the sanctioning body.
At present, NASCAR has prepared to enter 2025 organized as fields of 32 chartered and eight open entries. The four combined charters that 23XI and Front Row did not sign extensions with NASCAR for are being held in limbo until a resolution is reached.
But that doesn’t include the two SHR charters that were agreed to be sold, Front Row agreeing to acquire one back in April, with SHR president Joe Custer saying in an affidavit that Haas Factory Team does not have the capacity to field to extra cars.
Custer even wrote that forcing Haas to field the cars would impact irreparable harm on that single-car organization.
“Stewart-Haas Racing, LLC has sold one NASCAR Charter Agreement and has executory contracts to sell two more NASCAR Charter Agreements and related assets (collectively, the Sales Transactions”) to Front Row Motorsports, Inc., a Tennessee cotporation, and 2311 Racing, LLC, a North Carolina limited liability company, or their affiliated assignees …
“NASCAR officials conveyed to me on more than one occasion that once the Buyers submitted their Transfer Approval Forms and signed their respective Joinder Agreements, NASCAR would promptly provide the necessary approvals to transfer the Charter Agreements to the Buyers.
“In anticipation of consummating the Sales Transactions in the first two weeks of December 6, Stewart-Haas Racing, LLC has taken many material and irretractable actions to wind down its operations and cease doing business by December 31, 2024, including. but not limited to:
- Releasing two professional race car drivers
- Terminating over two hundred employees and facilitated their reemployment with competitors
- Foregoing renewing contracts to acquire use of necessary engines
- Returning, selling or cancelling orders for necessary equipment
- Selling two airplanes
- Terminating sponsorship contracts
- Issuing multiple statement
23XI and Front Row say NASCAR brought this on itself by both the alleged anticompetitive behavior but also in stating last week that it would not approve the transfer, and in their argument, reneging on an intent to do so.
NASCAR says the two teams brought this on themselves by not agreeing to the terms but then asking the court to give them the charters that are allegedly anticompetitive.
The two teams say charter protection over the duration of the lawsuit just preserves the status quo until a resolution is reached.
“Nor is this irreparable harm self-inflicted,” the teams said in a filing. “The fact that Plaintiffs were the only two teams who would not acquiesce to NASCAR’s demands does not change the fact that Defendants’ monopolization is causing Plaintiffs’ irreparable harm. Blaming victims for asserting their antitrust rights is not a defense to a Sherman Act violation.”
NASCAR also argued that Front Row did not act in good faith, asking for another week after declining to sign the 2025 agreement, expressing ‘interest’ in doing so but filing a lawsuit instead.
Ultimately, NASCAR is asking that the court strike the last minute charter transfer forced order request from the record or at least give them a chance to respond to it on the merits, which it would not have been able to do the teams added it in a response.
Judge Kenneth Bell will either strike the request from the record or allow NASCAR to respond. Then both sides will make oral arguments before the judge. Bell will then rule on whether or not 23XI and Front Row are entitled to chatter protection for two or three each of the charters in their orbit.
All of this has to play out before the 2025 season and before the antitrust lawsuit itself can even play out.