NASCAR insiders explain why executives hope to avoid court over charters
Right now, it feels like NASCAR and 23XI Racing (maybe Front Row Motorsports) are headed for a battle that could land in court. The tension in the sport is only getting more intense by the day.
23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports did not sign the charter agreement. One team owner said they felt NASCAR put a gun to their head to sign the agreement. Another compared the sanctioning body to a “communist regime.”
So, what are the chances that this goes to court? Well, if history is any indicator, NASCAR is going to try and avoid that as much as possible. And why is that?
Jeff Gluck and Jordan Bianchi of The Athletic discussed the topic on their Teardown podcast this Sunday.
“Here’s the thing, that’s exactly it,” Gluck said. “NASCAR does not want to go to court, they do not want to open their books, they do not want to have every part of their business splashed everywhere for everybody to see how the inner workings all work. So, even if 23XI has ultimately a losing case, dragging NASCAR into court might be enough of a play for them.”
But what leverage does 23XI have with only Front Row on their side?
“It’s the last, I don’t know what other stick they have,” Bianchi responded. “That is probably the last grasp they have at getting this. We’ve talked about leverage and what leverage teams do and do not have, it doesn’t seem they have much else to say. Again, they do have the name Michael Jordan.
“And if you’re NASCAR you do not want to be associated with the fact that, ‘Hey, we just yanked the charters from the team that Michael Jordan owns, oh and by the way our regular season champion, oh by the way one of our most popular drivers, Bubba Wallace. It would be a ton of negative publicity. Is that a thing if you’re NASCAR you say, ‘Hey listen, what would placate you? Is it giving you a few million more dollars?’ Maybe you do, but I don’t know. That, NASCAR historically has not operated that way.”
23XI Racing is playing with fire. However, it feels necessary. It remains unclear that this will go to court, but the chances are greater now than they were in February, that’s for sure.
While 23XI and FRM hold out, what will happen? This is going to only get more serious as the teams hold out for more concessions.