Denny Hamlin: NASCAR countersuit of 23XI, Curtis Polk 'came as a surprise'

Denny Hamlin was taken aback by NASCAR filing a countersuit against 23XI Racing, Front Row Motorsports and 23XI co-owner Curtis Polk.

“It came as a surprise to me,” Hamlin said on Monday’s Actions Detrimental podcast. “Certainly, I was very surprised to hear some of the accusations that were said.”

The stock car racing series filed the suit last Wednesday, alleging a conspiracy and agreement in unreasonable restraint of interstate trade and commerce, constituting a violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Act. In the 30-page court filing, NASCAR claimed all three “willfully violated the antitrust laws by orchestrating anticompetitive collective conduct.”

NASCAR in the suit called the teams an “illegal cartel,” alleging that they, led by Polk — Michael Jordan‘s longtime business partner — “agreed to a scheme to pressure NASCAR to accept their collusive terms, including by engaging in media campaigns, interfering with NASCAR’s broadcast agreement negotiations, threatening boycotts of NASCAR events and engaging in a group boycott of a NASCAR Team Owner Council Meeting.”

“It is truly ironic that in trying to blow-up the Charter system, 23XI and FRM have sought to weaponize the antitrust laws to achieve their goals,” the claim read. “That is because the undisputed reality is that it is 23XI and FRM, led by 23XI’s owner and sports agent Curtis Polk (23XI, FRM, and Curtis Polk collectively, “Counterclaim Defendants”), who willfully violated the antitrust laws by orchestrating anticompetitive collective conduct in connection with the terms of the 2025 Charter Agreements.”

Denny Hamlin defends Curtis Polk after scathing NASCAR letter, countersuit of 23XI

“Polk played an active role in this illegal conspiracy,” NASCAR said, by “representing all teams in negotiations, coordinating their conduct, and threatening teams that considered leaving the conspiracy and interfering and negatively affecting NASCAR’s attempts to renew its media rights agreements.”

Hamlin said he found many of the accusations against Polk to be “quite laughable.” He praised Polk for the job he has done in helping grow 23XI in just five years.

“All I can really tell you is that I’ve been in business with Curtis now for five years. The guy is one of the most respected businessmen in all of sports. He’s been in the business in multiple sports. He helped us build this race team into a championship caliber team by year five,” Hamlin said. “… I found many of those things quite laughable. My favorite was saying that Curtis doesn’t know NASCAR business. I don’t even know how to give you an analogy. But that’s like saying a chef doesn’t know how to cook. That’s what he does.

“He’s built Michael Jordan’s empire for the last 30 years. The guy knows the business. He’s been doing it for five years now. Curtis has just been fantastic for our team. And certainly, a pioneer, I believe, and a trailblazer for new ideas that our team uses every single time we hit the racetrack and how we do business and certain things. I can tell you this personally, I’m proud to be in business with him.”