Full antitrust lawsuit timeline

The 2024 NASCAR Cup Series is certainly one of the more dramatic seasons I can remember, and the drama wasn't limited to the track. Perhaps the largest news of the 12 months got here after the failure of Charter negotiations, which led to judicial scrutiny between the dynastic French family that has ruled NASCAR since its inception, and the 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports teams. It's an unprecedented move that directly challenges the France family's iron grip over the game, which has sent shockwaves through the garage. Since the news that each teams would file a lawsuit, there was one official court hearing, but quite a few lawsuits, motions and even appeals. It's difficult to maintain track of the always changing situation, so we've decided to interrupt all of it down for you within the official event schedule as this legal battle looms as a continuing shadow over the top of stock automotive racing.

Tyler Reddick, 23XI Racing, The Beast has released the Toyota Camry

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Photo: Matthew T. Thacker / NKP / Motorsport Images

September 5: NASCAR is setting a troublesome deadline for teams to sign a 2025 charter agreement after months of stagnant negotiations.

September 6: 23XI and FRM reveal that they refused to sign the 2025 charter agreement with 23XI, claiming that they “did not have the opportunity to fairly negotiate a new charter agreement.”

October 2: 23XI/FRM jointly file an antitrust lawsuit against NASCAR and the France family over the Charter dispute. They hired distinguished antitrust lawyer Jeffrey Kessler, accusing sports management of displaying “anti-competitive and monopolistic control over sports.” They also provided a listing of the way through which NASCAR exhibited such behavior and accused them of acting in a way that “unfairly benefits them at the expense of team owners, drivers, sponsors, partners and fans.” It even went so far as to say that the French family had run the game as “monopolistic tyrants” during their dynastic rule over the game since its founding over 75 years ago.

October 5: Denny Hamlin shares with the media that friend and co-owner of 23XI, Michael Jordan, sent him a clip from the movie “Moneyball” that features the quote: “The first one through the wall always bleeds.” Hamlin further added that he hopes the lawsuit will change the best way NASCAR is run, which indicates the corporate won’t budge.

October 9: 23XI/FRM files a motion for a preliminary injunction, searching for to preserve its charter for the 2025 season while the lawsuit continues. On the identical day, each teams also filed a motion for expedited discovery, requesting “immediate access to documents and records of NASCAR executives.” Previously, the Kessler team's attorney indicated that it could take one to 2 years before the case goes to trial.

October 16: NASCAR responds to 23XI/FRM's request for expedited discovery by stating that it is continuous to work on 32 charters for 2025 (versus the same old 36).

October 23: NASCAR files a response to 23XI/FRM's request for a preliminary injunction to guard their charters, stating that antitrust laws are intended to guard competition and “do not require successful sports enterprises to admit every team that wants to participate or protect teams that do not want to participate.” share compete.”

October 30: 23XI/FRM responded with its own response, citing Tony Stewart's failed enterprise with Superstar Racing Experience and the best way SRX needed to operate for example of NASCAR's exclusionary tactics.

October 31: Motion for expedited discovery to acquire relevant NASCAR documents prior to issuance of preliminary injunction is denied.

November 4: U.S. District Court Judge Frank D. Whitney holds a hearing for a preliminary injunction to preserve the statute, hearing arguments from each side. Among those in attendance were 23XI co-owners Michael Jordan and Hamlin, in addition to NASCAR president and CEO Jim France and longtime NASCAR executive Mike Helton. Jeffrey Kessler, general counsel for 23XI/FRM, and Chris Yates, general counsel for NASCAR, presented their case in federal court. Some extent of contention was a clause within the 2025 charter agreement that prohibits teams that signed it from suing NASCAR for any reason.

November 8: Judge Frank D. Whitney denies a motion for a preliminary injunction on the eve of championship weekend, finding that the teams failed to satisfy their burden of proof by failing to obviously establish that they might suffer irreparable harm from losing their charters. The judge said they have to “show that in the absence of an injunction, irreparable harm is likely, but showing 'the possibility of irreparable harm' is not sufficient.”

November 10: Hamlin says it is not any longer settled on 23XI's participation within the preseason Clash at Bowman Gray and Daytona 500 in the event that they are unable to retain their charters.

November 12: 23XI/FRM files an appeal following a preliminary injunction issued by Judge Whitney and the United States District Court.

November 16: The sanctioning body is removing an anti-competitive provision from its regulations, allowing 23XI and FRM to compete as open teams in 2025. The move ended speculation that NASCAR may deny teams entry in 2025 due to lawsuit.

November 18: NASCAR responds to 23XI/FRM's request for an expedited cancellation by saying there isn’t any urgent have to justify such a good schedule. The teams wanted an oral hearing to be held on December 13, while NASCAR requested it’s held no sooner than January 26 (just every week before the Clash at Bowman Gray).

November 20: The teams determine to not appeal the unique preliminary injunction ruling because they plan to approach it from a distinct perspective.

November 26: The teams are re-filing the motion for a preliminary injunction, citing “new circumstances” and mentioning that charter agreements related to the closure of Stewart-Haas Racing are up within the air and that they’ve lower than a month to finalize their offer. SHR planned to sell certainly one of its charters to FRM and the opposite on November 23. Per week earlier, 23XI confirmed its intention to launch a 3rd automotive in 2025 with Riley Herbst.

December 2: NASCAR files a motion to dismiss the 23XI/FRM lawsuit, claiming it’s “nothing more than dissatisfaction with business negotiations that did not go their way.” They gave 4 official reasons for dismissing the lawsuit, including noting that several of the concerns raised within the lawsuit concerning the proceedings occurred greater than 4 years ago and weren’t time-barred. They also claim that 23XI was considering attempting to prepare a boycott of NASCAR events and negative media campaigns to be able to adversely influence the game's latest “media rights negotiations.” NASCAR also claims they were those who threatened and pressured other teams, not the sanctioning body as alleged in the unique lawsuit.

December 11: The case was transferred from Judge Frank D. Whitney (who denied the primary preliminary injunction) to Judge Kenneth D. Bell for unnamed reasons.

December 12: FRM claims that NASCAR has informed them that the team's purchase of certainly one of SHR's charters has been approved but won’t be allowed to proceed unless the lawsuit is dropped. FRM is predicted to expand to 3 cars in 2025, but has not announced this yet. Already in May, they revealed their intention to buy an SHR charter. In the identical filing, SHR's Joe Custer said that NASCAR had assured him that charter transfers could be approved and that point was running out to finish the sale. In today's NASCAR, charters cost about $30 million apiece.