In a significant court victory, 23XI and FRM will maintain NASCAR charters as.
While the antitrust case against NASCAR and the France family is still pending, 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports have been granted a preliminary injunction to retain their charters for the 2025 season. The contested portions of the 2025 Charter Agreement that sparked this lawsuit are declared unenforceable while the legal dispute is still pending, and the ruling is only valid for the following year.
The court’s decision stated: “Under the terms of the 2025 Charter Agreement, Defendants (NASCAR) and their agents, servants, employees, attorneys, and anybody else actively working with Defendants must permit Plaintiffs (23XI/FRM) to enter two race cars each in all NASCAR Cup races. This limited preliminary injunction will only be in effect for the 2025 NASCAR Cup season.”
Additionally, “NASCAR is preliminarily enjoined from refusing to approve Plaintiffs’ purchases of two Stewart-Haas Racing, LLC charters, which Plaintiffs will be entitled to use to race in all 2025 NASCAR Cup races on the same terms as other charter teams, again with the exception of the application of the release language to Plaintiffs’ claims in this action; and 3. The Court will set a Case Management schedule that, in the absence of a voluntary resolution of this dispute among the Parties, provides for a trial on Plaintiffs’ claims to be completed prior to the start of the 2026 NASCAR race season.”
The teams’ November 8th motion for a preliminary injunction was initially denied by the judge, who pointed out that they had not demonstrated that losing the charters would cause irreversible harm. 23XI/FRM then filed an appeal, but they decided to withdraw it and resubmit the motion for a preliminary injunction using a different strategy because of the evolving situation. Judge Kenneth D. Bell is currently handling the case after Judge Frank D. Whitney denied the motion in November.
The judge first rejected the teams’ November 8th motion for a preliminary injunction, stating that they had not proven that losing the charters would result in irreparable harm. Following that, 23XI/FRM filed an appeal, but due to the changing circumstances, they chose to revoke it and resubmit the motion for a preliminary injunction using a different approach. After Judge Frank D. Whitney rejected the motion in November, the case is now being handled by Judge Kenneth D. Bell.
