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Could NASCAR be heading toward a December trial vs. Michael Jordan's 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports?

Is a trial inevitable in 23XI Motorsports and Front Row Motorsports’ ongoing legal dispute with NASCAR?

Time is running out for the two parties to settle ahead of a Dec. 1 trial date. Wednesday, A federal judge denied a motion for a preliminary injunction for the teams in the latest development in the legal saga. 23XI and FRM wanted to be recognized as chartered teams for the final nine races of the 2025 season after they’ve been operating as open teams in recent races.

23XI — the team co-owned by Cup Series driver Denny Hamlin and NBA legend Michael Jordan — and Front Row Motorsports were the only two Cup Series teams that didn’t sign NASCAR’s franchising agreement in the fall of 2024. The two teams believed the agreement was unfair and filed a suit, alleging that NASCAR was a monopolistic bully.

In the months since the suit was filed, the disdain between the teams and NASCAR has been obvious. In text messages and emails revealed via court filings ahead of the Labor Day weekend, Hamlin said that his dislike of the France family — the family that has owned NASCAR since its inception — “runs deep” while NASCAR commissioner Steve Phelps wrote in an email that the charter agreement the other 11 Cup Series teams signed contained “zero wins for the teams.”

The revelations in those communications were a peek into the disagreements between the two parties. And unless a settlement is reached in the next 12 weeks, a trial will reveal a lot more.

A settlement seems hard to envision at the moment. NASCAR has shown no public desire to compromise and Jordan said last week after a court hearing that he was open to a settlement but willing to take the case to a trial.

“Look, I’ve been a fan of the game for a long period of time,” Jordan said (via the Associated Press). “When we first started this whole process I’ve always said I want to fight for the betterment of the sport. Even though they tried to point out that we’ve made some money, we had a successful business, that’s not the point. The point is that the sport itself needs to continually change for the fans as well as for the teams.

“As well as for NASCAR, too, if they understand that. I feel like we made a good statement today about that and I look forward to going down with fire. If I have to fight this to the end, for the betterment of the sport, I will do that.”

23XI and FRM’s intentions to go hard after NASCAR were clear when they hired prominent antitrust lawyer Jeffrey Kessler. He previously represented college athletes in their fight for compensation on the own name and image rights and players from the United States Women’s National Team as they fought for and ultimately received equal pay from the U.S. Soccer Federation.

If the case does go to trial, one party could suffer a humiliating defeat. And no matter who that party is, NASCAR will fundamentally change. And the sanctioning body could find itself in a losing PR battle no matter if it wins. How can NASCAR win in the court of public opinion in a legal battle with one of the most beloved athletes of all time?

A victory for NASCAR would solidify the grip the sanctioning body has on its teams. Bill France famously barred Curtis Turner after he tried to form a drivers union in 1961 and the first race at Talladega in 1969 was run with replacement drivers after the Professional Drivers Association, a group that included Richard Petty, David Pearson, Cale Yarborough and the Allisons, boycotted the race.

If 23XI and FRM lose, they could go out of business entirely or be reduced to a shell of their current selves. Each team fields three cars in the NASCAR Cup Series and 23XI has said in legal filings that driver Tyler Reddick and his sponsors have told the team that their contract has been breached. Reddick has an out clause in his deal if his No. 45 car is unchartered.

If the teams are victorious, NASCAR would likely cede a lot of its power to drivers and teams. NASCAR tracks currently receive the largest percentage of money through the sanctioning body’s media deals and many of those tracks are owned by NASCAR itself. NASCAR, of course, also directly gets a percentage from the deal.

Teams have long been asking for more money from the media deal as they deal with rising costs and an increasing struggle to find sponsorship. If 23XI and FRM win, NASCAR’s charter agreement could be totally reworked. Or even disappear altogether.

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