23XI Racing, Front Row Motorsports release statement following district court ruling on NASCAR countersuit

Following today’s district court ruling, denying 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports their motion to dismiss NASCAR’s countersuit. The ruling is not a decision based on the merits of the counterclaim, but it will be allowed to move forward.

NASCAR is alleging that it is the teams that engaged in illegal conduct while negotiating the charter agreement. They allege a conspiracy to get more money from NASCAR in the negotiations, and threats of boycotts and other methods of collusion between the teams amounted to illegal activities in the context of the negotiations.

The teams have released a statement regarding the ruling through their attorney, Jeffrey Kessler. Another step in this ongoing lawsuit.

“Judge Bell’s decision today is encouraging even though we are disappointed that he did not dismiss NASCAR’s meritless, retaliatory counterclaim,” Kessler said. “The judge’s recognition of many of our arguments, including the efficiency and necessity of joint negotiations and lack of credible evidence, reinforces our confidence that we will prevail in summary judgment. This counterclaim is a tactic by NASCAR to divide and distract. We remain confident in our case and motivated by our original intent – to ensure a competitive and fair sport for all drivers, fans, teams, and partners.”

A bit of confidence from Kessler and the teams despite the ruling. There have been a couple of “wins” for NASCAR recently. The big one was getting the preliminary injunctions overturned by the U.S. Court of Appeals. 23XI Racing and Front Row may end up without charters in the middle of the season.

Right now, the teams are waiting to hear if they will get to appeal that decision. If an appeal is granted, they will have a hearing in front of the entire seven-judge panel.

23XI Racing and Front Row continue business as usual

Even in the face of losing their charter status, 23XI Racing and Front Row do not appear ready to step aside. This feels like it is going the distance. Judge Kenneth Bell has urged the teams to reach a settlement. There is a lot of money up for grabs or to lose for each side. Then there are the potential ramifications it would have on the sport as a whole.

Denny Hamlin has kept a cool head for the most part. He insists, charters or not, his teams will be at the race track every week. At this point, they likely don’t have a risk of missing out on a race due to not qualifying. There just aren’t that many open cars in races outside of the Daytona 500.

Moving forward, this will be another wrinkle in this lawsuit to watch. The counterclaim will move on for now. Clearly, 23XI Racing and Front Row do not believe there is merit to the claims. NASCAR obviously feels differently. We will see how this plays out in the coming months.