NASCAR to appeal 23XI, Front Row injunction with emergency motion

After Wednesday’s preliminary injunction ruling, NASCAR is appealing and asking that a stay be placed on the injunction pending appeal. That means the injunction would be suspended while the courts determine if the appeal has merit.

This is expected. NASCAR is going to use anything it can to help them win this case. If they can by some chance get the injunction reversed, it would be a major win for them. If not, it looks like this thing is going to trial.

“Pursuant to Rule 62(c) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Defendants move this Court to stay its December 18, 2024 Order granting Plaintiffs a preliminary injunction,” the emergency motion reads in part.

NASCAR’s legal team argues that they are likely to succeed on appeal and that NASCAR will suffer irreparable harm without a stay of the decision. On top of that they state that 23XI and Front Row will not face substantial harm and that it is in the public interest to stay the injunction.

According to Christopher Yates and his legal team, there is harm that NASCAR will suffer because of the injunction. While 23XI and Front Row are arguing that the injunction is keeping the teams from suffering harm.

However, the most interesting part of the motion is this:

“Second, NASCAR will suffer irreparable harm without a stay. The Court’s decision forcing NASCAR to approve Plaintiffs’ SHR Charter transfers is not a ‘limited’ injunction for the 2025 Cup Series season. Instead, it will effectively force NASCAR into a seven-to-fourteen year contractual relationship with Plaintiffs with respect to these Charters – even though Plaintiffs have not met multiple required conditions for these Charters’ assignment.”

NASCAR is hitting back after preliminary injunction granted

One of the main arguments that the sanctifying body has against the injunction is on procedural standards. They believe that 23XI and Front Row improperly entered more evidence in favor of their injunction after NASCAR had responded to the original filing.

NASCAR will appeal the preliminary injunction in its entirety but is only asking for a partial stay. Meaning, they are only asking the SHR charters be withheld under the emergency motion. So, they are fine with letting 23XI and FRM race two cars each. But are against selling the SHR charters to the teams at this time.

This is going to continue. We are going to likely get a trial at this point. Then again, NASCAR is making a strong push to get things overturned. An appeal could lead to a reversal on this injunction. If the emergency motion is granted then that puts a wrench into the teams’ plans once again.

Having those SHR charters is imperative for 23XI and Front Row. Riley Herbst requires in his contract that he has a chartered car. Front Row likely has a similar contract with their third driver for 2025, who is unnamed at this time.

The sale of those charters will happen tomorrow, December 20, if the emergency motion is not granted. That is why NASCAR is pushing for this decision to be made quickly.