Marcus Smith includes Denny Hamlin, Michael Jordan as 'titans of industry and sports entertainment'

When it comes to big names in NASCAR, Michael Jordan is one that jumps off the page, but Denny Hamlin has a major role to play as well. As co-owners of 23XI Racing, the two have already made and are continuing to make a major mark on the sport.

This season, 23XI Racing won the regular season championship with Tyler Reddick. They are also in the middle of a lawsuit against NASCAR for antitrust claims.

In a recent interview with Business North Carolina, Marcus Smith talked about the major players in NASCAR. The Speedway Motorsports Inc. CEO gave his shortlist and it included the 23XI Racing co-owners.

“Rick Hendrick with Hendrick Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing. Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin with 23XI [Racing]. Roger Penske with Penske Motorsports. They are the titans of industry and sports entertainment that have NASCAR teams. We have a long-term agreement with NASCAR where we host the Coca-Cola 600 on Memorial Day weekend. We handle the party, so to speak. NASCAR operates the event, what happens on the track and in the garage and we handle everything else.

“There are about 700 trailers that move from track to track in the NASCAR world every time there is a race. You’ve got the television compound, souvenirs, food and beverage, and security and communications.”

Speedway Motorsports owns and operates some of the biggest and most historic race tracks in NASCAR. Marcus Smith and his family have worked alongside many generations of the sport.

Denny Hamlin hoping to receive preliminary injunction

For 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports, the offseason is not a real offseason. This lawsuit is going to take up their time and their mind as they work to get to a place they can operate as usual.

The teams are still seeking an injunction, this time filing for a second time in district court. Due to a change of facts and new information, they dropped their appeal of the original injunction request and are pursuing an entirely new request.

NASCAR is, of course, against this.

As part of NASCAR’s latest filing: The “expedited proposal fails to provide … sufficient time to review and investigate, particularly given the Thanksgiving holiday weekend and the fact that Defendants are working to prepare an answer and responsive briefing that are due on December 2.”

We will see how the court rules in the upcoming days. 23XI Racing and Front Row want to get a response by December 6th. NASCAR is pushing for December 9th. Then there is a hearing after that.