Judge denies NASCAR request to dismiss lawsuit by 23XI Racing, Front Row Motorsports

A federal judge on Friday denied a request by NASCAR and NASCAR Chairman Jim France to dismiss the lawsuit brought against them by 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports.

Both teams have not signed charter agreements with NASCAR and filed an antitrust suit on October 2 against NASCAR and France.

The order Friday by U.S. District Judge Kenneth D. Bell came after he heard arguments from both sides in court Wednesday.

Bell wrote in his order: “The parties to this action have couched their existential dispute in starkly different terms. According to Plaintiffs, NASCAR (led by the dynastic France family) is the iron-fisted monopolistic ruler of premier stock car racing that has imposed “anti-competitive ‘take it or leave it’ terms” on Plaintiffs and other top racing teams.

“According to the defendants, NASCAR and the France family are the founders and directors of a beloved and valuable racing series, who have fairly negotiated mutually beneficial “Charter Agreements” that reflect reasonable commercial terms between NASCAR and the racing teams.

“What is the actual evidence and how does it provide a correct legal conclusion? These questions cannot be determined on motions to dismiss in this action, where Plaintiffs have sufficiently alleged one or more credible antitrust claims against Defendants within the applicable limitations period.

“Instead, the answers should be found when the parties have a full opportunity to pursue discovery of the relevant facts and then at trial, where the jury will be able to weigh the evidence and assess the credibility of the witnesses (unless the case is resolved). sooner by the parties or the Court). Therefore the Court will DENY the Defendants’ Motions to Dismiss.”

Joey Logano tries to defend his Cup title in 2024.

The judge also denied NASCAR’s request that both 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports post a bond “in excess of $10 million for each car allowed to race based on the damages it claims it would suffer if forced to do so under the charter provisions.”

The court earlier ruled for a preliminary injunction that would allow 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports to run all three of its cars as rental cars despite not having signed the agreement in September. NASCAR appealed the preliminary injunction.

Bell wrote in his order opposing the bond: “The alleged harm to NASCAR from allowing Plaintiffs to race chartered cars on the same terms as the other 30 chartered teams is currently uncertain and unquantified. Therefore, the Court, in its discretion, will waive the security requirement of Rule 65(c) and not require Plaintiffs to post a bond for the issuance of the Preliminary Injunctions.

“However, by this ruling, the court does not foreclose NASCAR’s ability to later seek reimbursement for damages it claims it suffered as a result of an unlawfully entered injunction.”

The court set December 1 as the start of the trial.