23XI, Front Row lawsuit targets NASCAR for 'Anticompetitive Next Gen Requirements'

The 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports lawsuit is focused on antitrust enforcement, and the Next Gen car is part of that. It is one of the most interesting parts of the lawsuit against NASCAR. In fact, it could change what has become a controversial car over the last few years.

When the Next Gen car was announced, it had skeptics. Then it was deployed, and there were a lot of flaws. It stunk on short tracks and road courses. There were major safety issues in the first year. Just ask Kurt Busch.

But none of that has anything to do with this lawsuit. No, instead, the 23XI Racing lawsuit targets the Next Gen for its single-source suppliers. And the fact that NASCAR owns all of the Cup Series cars.

In the “Factual Allegations” section the lawsuit calls out NASCAR for “Anticompetitive Next Gen Requirements.”

“Under the guise of a business model that NASCAR presented as a move to make stock car racing more affordable, NASCAR introduced the ‘Next Gen’ car in 2022. In reality, this change is an exclusionary requirement which locks premier stock car racing teams even further into NASCAR, makes switching to any competitive racing series even more difficult, and ultimately increases costs on racing teams. It now costs teams approximately $3 million per year in car parts to field just one charter team in a full Cup Series schedule.”

23XI lawsuit: NASCAR owns all Next Gen cars and parts

The lawsuit goes on to give background on how NASCAR began and then evolved over time. It also includes background on how teams developed cars on their own. Then it delves into how teams had to fire entire departments after the Next Gen. Teams had workers without tasks to do anymore.

The main sticking point about the Next Gen, is ownership. As stated earlier, teams spend $3 million to put a full season together. Just on the cars! But ultimately, the teams do not own the cars that they race on Sundays. They don’t own a single part on them despite paying for each piece.

“Most significantly, to lock the racing teams into NASCAR, each Next Gen car remains property of NASCAR. This means that Plaintiffs and other teams pour money into purchasing parts and pieces from NASCAR’s authorized suppliers while developing expertise in driving and maintaining the Next Gen car, but ultimately are left with a very expensive racing car that can only be used for NASCAR Cup Series races.

“Since the Next Gen car is property of NASCAR, NASCAR can and does prohibit teams from using the car in any race other than Cup Series races. If a team wanted to participate in another stock car racing event not authorized by NASCAR – even after the Charter Agreement and the covenant not to compete expired – it would have to build an entirely new car from the ground up.”

The 23XI Racing lawsuit is going to change this sport. One way or another, things will not be the same after this is all said and done. Which side are you taking in this dispute? Or do you hope to just have racing on Sundays?