What the Loss of Charter Status Means for 23XI and FRM
What’s Happening? Today, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruled in favor of NASCAR, overturning a Dec….
Late Wednesday afternoon, NASCAR filed its response to 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports’ motion for a temporary restraining order to maintain charter status. In this filing, NASCAR’s legal team answered several questions NASCAR fans had about the future of the teams’ six charters and both teams.
According to NASCAR filing today: Both 23XI and FRM have completed the paperwork to race as open teams at Dover and Indianapolis.
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) July 16, 2025
Following a Jun. 5 ruling that overturned a preliminary injunction granting the two teams charter status for 2025, the two teams, who own a combined six charters, motioned for a rehearing that would be denied on Jul. 9. Facing the loss of their charters for this weekend’s race, the two teams requested a temporary restraining order on Monday.
In their response, filed Wednesday afternoon, NASCAR’s legal team reiterated several points they have made throughout this process. They claimed that the teams never had these charters as they did not sign the 2025 NASCAR Charter Agreement last fall, and that there is no “credible risk” that drivers such as Tyler Reddick could leave should the teams lose charter status.
This potential loss of drivers and sponsors helped push the Dec. 18 injunction ruling that granted the teams their charters across the finish line. During the litigation of the team’s initial Preliminary Injunction Motion, their lawyer, Jeffery Kessler, claimed on Nov. 4 that Reddick had an out in his contract should the team lose charter status.
As of press time, the future of 23XI and FRM’s Charter status is in the air, though this filing clarifies that the teams have filed the paperwork to compete as open entries. If they do enter this weekend as unchartered teams, they will lose the larger share of revenue given to charter-owning entries and automatic entry to races.
What’s Happening? Today, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruled in favor of NASCAR, overturning a Dec….
On Monday, the teams claimed that NASCAR was already attempting to sell the six charters to other entities. In this filing, NASCAR claims that it will not do so until the court rules on the teams’ latest motion for preliminary injunction. Perhaps most interesting of all, the filing claims that there are teams, some already in NASCAR and some not currently involved in the sport, interested in buying charters.
“Although based on the false premise that Plaintiffs have Charters, and notwithstanding the substantial interest in Charters from motorsports companies racing in INDYCAR, Xfinity, and other series, NASCAR has represented it will not sell any Charters before the Court can rule on Plaintiffs’ motion for preliminary injunction.”
After reading such a quote, the first question likely on the minds of NASCAR fans is who. On the NASCAR Cup Series side, there are teams publicly seeking new charters, such as Legacy Motor Club and Rick Ware Racing, which are tied up in a legal battle themselves.
Some could assume that Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s JR Motorsports could be one of the Xfinity Series teams. But most interesting of all is the claim that an IndyCar team is interested in the charter. Notably, this comes just one week after RACER reported that Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing was interested in racing in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.
We have extensively covered all aspects of this lawsuit via the timeline linked below.
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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