NASCAR Antitrust Trial Opens With Denny Hamlin In Tears

The antitrust lawsuit brought against NASCAR by 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports officially opened in Charlotte, N.C., on Monday with jury selection, opening arguments and testimony from 23XI Racing co-owner Denny Hamlin. Six jurors and three alternates were chosen to hear the case.

The trial is taking place in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina and no cameras or recordings are allowed.

At issue is the contention of the teams that NASCAR has a monopoly over top tier stock car racing, whereby it controls the rules, owns several tracks, restricts teams from competing in other series, dictates both the design of the Cup Series car and its parts supply, and won’t make the charters permanent, among other issues.

Fox Sports’ Bob Pockrass reported that NASCAR’s attorney John Stephenson asked why the plaintiffs would buy charters if they believed the sport’s business was anticompetitive and said they didn’t bring this issue up during the most recent charter negotiations that preceded the lawsuit. He also noted the steep increases in revenue and value NASCAR says have been created since the charter system was put in place in 2016.

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The attorney for the teams, Jeffrey Kessler, suggested that the charters are like leases that can be revoked, rather than something owned, Pockrass reported. They were originally issued to 19 full-time teams for free, but now trade on the open market for upwards of $45 million, despite their impermanence.

Hamlin, who is also a driver for Joe Gibbs Racing, was the first witness to take the stand. He discussed the struggles his family went through to support his racing career.

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“We got to when I was about 20 and a decision had to be made, I could keep racing or go out and work for my dad’s trailer business,” Hamlin said while tearing up, according to The Associated Press.

He noted that 11 of the original chartered teams are no longer in business to highlight the financial difficulty of running an operation under the current system and said the only way he was able to start a team was because he was working with Michael Jordan.

“If I can’t be successful with Michael as a partner, I knew this was never going to work,” he said.

According to Hamlin, it costs $20 million to run a single Cup Series car each season, while the current charter agreement guarantees $12.5 million.

Court adjourned in the middle of Hamlin’s testimony, which will continue on Tuesday.

BOB POCKRASS JOINS THE THE GAS PODCAST FOR A PREVIEW OF THE NASCAR TRIAL

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