NASCAR countersues 23XI and Front Row, names Michael Jordan business partner in 'conspiracy'

NASCAR has filed a counterclaim against 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports and named Michael Jordan‘s longtime business partner Curtis Polk as a defendant, per Jeff Gluck of The Athletic.

According to Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports, the stock car racing series is 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 claims all three “willfully violated the antitrust laws by orchestrating anticompetitive collective conduct.”

NASCAR in the suit called the teams an “illegal cartel,” and alleges that they, led by 23XI co-owner Polk, “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 reads. “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.”

“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.”

NASCAR vs. 23XI, Front Row saga continues

23XI and Front Row filed an antitrust lawsuit this past October, accusing NASCAR and its CEO Jim France of “unlawful monopolization of premier stock car racing in order to enrich themselves at the expense of the premier stock car racing teams.” The antitrust lawsuit stemmed from 23XI and Front Row opting not to sign NASCAR’s final charter proposal last September at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Teams negotiated an extension of the original 2016 charter agreement for two years ahead of its Dec. 31 expiration. They made demands such as making charters permanent, which NASCAR refused to include in its proposals.

The final proposal came in at 6 p.m. ET on Friday, Sept. 6. NASCAR allegedly gave teams a six-hour deadline to sign, threatening to “eliminate the charter system altogether for 2025 and beyond” if they did not. 23XI and Front Row were the two holdouts among the 15 Cup Series teams. The final offer included a nearly 50 percent increase that teams earned from NASCAR’s record $1.1 billion per year television deal that went into effect in 2025 and also runs through 2031, Gluck and Jordan Bianchi wrote in their report.

As part of the lawsuit, 23XI and Front Row asked for preliminary injunction that would allow them to compete as chartered teams in 2025 while still proceeding with the lawsuit. Both teams obtained the preliminary injunction two months before the current season began. In its countersuit, NASCAR is asking for a new injunction to eliminate guaranteed entries under the charter agreement if the teams continue to pursue legal action against them.

“That an injunction be issued to grant such relief as is necessary to restore competition including, the elimination of Section 3.1(a) of the 2025 Charter Agreement which provides for guaranteed entry into Cup Series races if Counterclaim Defendants persist in seeking to have the Charter Agreements declared as unlawful under the antitrust laws,” the claim reads.

NASCAR is not asking for an immediate injunction. That will be part of the jury trial scheduled Dec. 1.