23XI, Front Row injunction reveals staggering cost to NASCAR teams, importance of charter

23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports filed a preliminary injunction Wednesday to compete as chartered teams in the 2025 Cup Series season while their antitrust lawsuit against NASCAR is ongoing.

As a result of the filing, the importance of having a guaranteed charter for 2025 has come to light. According to Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports, teams say that the Daytona 500 purse is 15% of the entire season purse. 23XI currently operates as a two-car team, though it’s widely expected they will add a third ahead of the start of next season. 23XI claims they will have to invest $2.5 million in parts and equipment in order to field a third team. Pockrass noted that 23XI currently has 100 employees and is planning to add 27-32 for a third team.

23XI, co-owned by NBA legend Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin, alongside Front Row, owned by Bob Jenkins, sued NASCAR and CEO Jim France in the Western District Court of North Carolina alleging “unlawful monopolization of premier stock car racing in order to enrich themselves at the expense of the premier stock car racing teams.”

“The injunction request centers around a release in NASCAR’s 2025 charter agreements that the teams interpret as barring them from taking antitrust action against the sanctioning body,” Jordan Bianchi of The Athletic wrote.

23XI, Front Row moving forward with lawsuit against NASCAR

23XI and Front Row are asking for the provision to be waived before their charters expire at midnight on Dec. 31. If the provision is waived, the two teams will sign the 2025 agreement to retain their guaranteed starting spots in all 36 Cup Series races, as well as a share in the $1.1 billion that NASCAR will collect as a part of its new TV deal beginning next season.

As of now, 23XI and Front Row are the only two holdouts among the 15 Cup Series teams. The injunction would be heard before the end of the year.

Attorney Jeffrey Kessler is representing 23XI and Front Row in litigation. Kessler has previously scored court victories which have led to the creation of NFL free agency, implementation of name, image and likeness (NIL) in collegiate athletics and equal pay for the United States women’s national soccer team.

“A court order will prevent [NASCAR] from enforcing that release term,” Kessler told The Associated Press. “And that way we can compete with the charters while we litigate against you going forward. We would sign them if they cannot enforce the antitrust release. If we don’t win the motion, then [the teams] will have to compete open.”

Jenkins said that 23XI and Front Row stand to miss out on $45 million in combined revenue if they compete as un-chartered teams in 2025.

“We didn’t get anything we wanted,” Jenkins said, via Bianchi. “We got a bigger percentage of the purse [than before]. But NASCAR got the right to spend a lot more of that money. “… Once [the charter agreements] become public, I think the typical race fan will look at this and say, ‘Wow, this really was a very onerous deal for the owners.’”