Michael Jordan’s 23XI vs NASCAR: The Complete Timeline
What’s Happening? The 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports lawsuit will continue for some time. However, many developments will occur along…
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Front Row Motorsports and 23XI Racing are currently fighting for their four Charters in court with NASCAR. We know 23XI’s plans for 2025; however, FRM has kept quiet. With an expansion in the works and the potential loss of their Charters, how many cars will FRM field in 2025?
What’s Happening? The 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports lawsuit will continue for some time. However, many developments will occur along…
Front Row Motorsports currently has a problem: the two-car operation and fellow team 23XI Racing are locked in an antitrust lawsuit with NASCAR.
This lawsuit stems from the 2025 NASCAR Charter negotiations and the two teams’ disagreement with the final offered Charter Agreement. The teams have also filed a motion for a preliminary injunction that would allow them to retain their Charter teams throughout the lawsuit.
The teams need this preliminary injunction as Charters are vital to operating a healthy NASCAR team. FRM, for example, has grown from a “backmarker” into a tier-one supported Ford team this season. The teams, however, felt filing this lawsuit was worth the risk, and hope the injunction will allow them to pursue this lawsuit and maintain their teams.
Further complicating the matter, FRM and 23XI both agreed to purchase new Charters from Stewart-Haas Racing with the goal of expanding their operations. In a Dec. 2 filing, NASCAR indicated that they would not transfer this Charter to the teams if they did not win the preliminary injunction. However, if they do, they would earn this Charter.
So, what if FRM does not get its preliminary injunction and loses out on all three Charters? What can they do? Here’s what we know so far.
What’s Happening? 23XI and Front Row Motorsports face an uncertain future with their upcoming Nov. 4 injunction hearing. This preliminary injunction…
At press time, FRM confirmed three things about its 2025 plans. The team will field cars in 2025, as they signed the open agreement alongside 23XI. Furthermore, we can assume that they will have at least two cars next season.
We can make such an assumption that the team is retaining and extending Todd Gilliland and has signed Noah Gragson to replace Michael McDowell. Furthermore, we know that Gilliland will drive to the flagship No. 34 next season.
There’s not much more confirmed information on the team’s future beyond these notes. However, as usual, we can piece together things from the rumor mill and insiders to get a better understanding of what 2025 might look like for FRM.
In late November, the nascarrumornostalgia Instagram account posted what they had heard about FRM’s 2025 plans.
We will address what they stated about the driver of the third car in a moment. However, they claimed that they believed the car would be part-time, regardless of the driver.
The major problem with fielding open cars, of course, is money. It makes sense for FRM to want to race this car part-time if they lose the financial benefits that come with Charter ownership.
However, when NASCAR motioned to dismiss the lawsuit against them on Monday, insider Bob Pockrass of Fox Sports left a little bit of information on his X account about FRM’s third car.
FRM, much like 23XI, has been planning on this expansion since early 2024. Perhaps, like 23XI, they will approach this with an all-or-nothing stance.
In 23XI’s case, shortly after the court denied their initial preliminary injunction, the team announced their third expansion car driven by Riley Herbst. If FRM takes this route, most expect Zane Smith, FRM’s former top prospect, to return to the team in 2025. This signing would be despite rumors of bad blood between Smith and Ford following his departure last season.
When FRM officially announces its 2025 plans, we’ll have it here on the Daily Downforce. For now, we have an idea of what the future could hold for the team, Chartered or not.
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