U.S. District Judge Kenneth D. Bell on Monday rejected NASCAR’s move to stay the injunction Bell ordered last week, pending NASCAR’s appeal to the Fourth Circuit.This decision moves the focus of the 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports antitrust case against NASCAR to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.
Unless it is overturned on appeal, the injunction, which is effective for the 2025 season, prevents NASCAR from refusing 23XI Racing and Front Row the same conditions granted to charter teams and guarantees that the two teams won’t be forced to file lawsuits against NASCAR. Since 23XI Racing and Front Row are granted a status that is arguably higher than that of charter teams, NASCAR has characterized this arrangement as unfair and illegal in court documents.
U.S. District Judge Kenneth D. Bell on Monday rejected NASCAR’s move to stay the injunction Bell ordered last week, pending NASCAR’s appeal to the Fourth Circuit.This decision moves the focus of the 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports antitrust case against NASCAR to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.
Unless it is overturned on appeal, the injunction, which is effective for the 2025 season, prevents NASCAR from refusing 23XI Racing and Front Row the same conditions granted to charter teams and guarantees that the two teams won’t be forced to file lawsuits against NASCAR. Since 23XI Racing and Front Row are granted a status that is arguably higher than that of charter teams, NASCAR has characterized this arrangement as unfair and illegal in court documents.
The plan by Front Row and 23XI Racing to purchase charters from Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) is also affected by the injunction. Bell’s order on Monday changed the injunction so that 23XI Racing’s potential purchase of a charter from SHR is no longer protected, even though it still prohibits NASCAR from “refusing to immediately approve” Front Row’s purchase of a charter from SHR. The judge clarified that 23XI’s acquisition of an SHR charter was not taken into consideration in the plaintiffs’ motion for an injunction. “The situation is not entirely the same, even though the circumstances and issues surrounding 23XI’s purchase of an SHR charter significantly overlap with the transfer of the SHR charter to Front Row,” Bell wrote. Bell pointed out that Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin’s 23XI Racing could independently
As for denying the stay, Bell wrote that “nearly all of the arguments” NASCAR raised “have already been made to the Court.” This viewpoint echoes one raised by the plaintiffs’ lead attorney, Jeffrey Kessler, in a filing earlier on Monday. Bell also objected to NASCAR writing he suffered a “misunderstanding” about the waiver provision and its relationship to the law. While NASCAR said the provision does not operate prospectively and is retroactive in effect, Bell bristled that the release “is hardly a model of clarity.” He also opined that NASCAR’s own pleadings “admit that the release is applicable to far more than ‘retrospective’ claims.”
Bell also emphasized the “significant collateral harm” that “SHR and its former employees” would suffer if he approved the stay. According to Bell, many of SHR’s staff members have “been let go and left to join Plaintiffs,” and the company “has already announced it is closing down most of its operations.” Bell was concerned that granting the stay would put former workers “in limbo.”
The appeal to the Fourth Circuit will now be the legal focus of NASCAR. Although appeals may take several weeks or more, it will ask the Fourth Circuit to take action as soon as possible. Additionally, because many judges, clerks, and other court staff are off for the Christmas and New Year holidays, proceedings tend to slow down during this time of year.
