Court Rules Against 23XI Racing And Front Row Motorsports In NASCAR Charter Lawsuit Proceedings

A federal appellate panel has thrown out an injunction that has required NASCAR to treat 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports as chartered teams while their lawsuit against the latest charter program continues through the legal system.

The teams hold six of the Cup Series’ 36 charters, three apiece, and are suing NASCAR on antitrust grounds, arguing it has created an anti-competitive environment that puts too many restrictions on the teams’ operations. Neither has signed the agreement, which covers the 2025-2031 seasons and prevents chartered teams from suing the organization, which is why the injunction was requested.

The panel ruled that the teams had not clearly shown that they have a “likelihood-of-success” for their case and were “not entitled to a preliminary injunction. The teams have 14 days to appeal the verdict.

“We are disappointed by today’s ruling by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals and are reviewing the decision to determine our next steps,” Jeffrey Kessler, the attorney representing the teams, said in a statement. This ruling is based on a very narrow consideration of whether a release of claims in the charter agreements is anti-competitive and does not impact our chances of winning at trial scheduled for December 1.”

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“We remain confident in our case and committed to racing for the entirety of this season as we continue our fight to create a fair and just economic system for stock car racing that is free of anticompetitive, monopolistic conduct.”

Front Row Motorsports fields cars with drivers Todd Gilliland, Zane Smith, and Noah Gragson and 23XI Racing with Bubba Wallace, Riley Herbst and Tyler Reddick. Reddick’s contract has an out clause that is activated if his team can’t provide him a chartered car.

Charters guarantee a spot in every race and a larger amount of revenue than open cars can earn. They can be bought and sold among teams and are currently worth tens of millions of dollars each, but are only valid during the period of the agreement. NASCAR has not indicated what it would do with the charters in this situation, but it could potentially redistribute them to other teams and require 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports to qualify their cars for the races, which have a maximum of four spots for open entries.