UPDATE: Teams Want Rick Hendrick and Roger Penske Deposed Under Oath
What’s Happening? 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports are asking the court to allow them to depose legendary NASCAR team owners…
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Following a request from 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports to depose them as part of their ongoing lawsuit with NASCAR, team owners Rick Hendrick and Roger Penske are pushing back at the now-granted motion.
This saga began on Wednesday in the waning days of the discovery portion of the antitrust lawsuit filed by 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports against NASCAR last fall.
The teams requested that Hendrick and Penske provide sworn testimony prior to the trial as part of the discovery process. As per this filing, the two owners had previously been designated as witnesses for the December trial, but not for the ongoing discovery period.
Late that evening, Judge Kenneth D. Bell granted the teams’ request, allowing them to proceed. But now, a new filing from the two legendary on-track opponents pushes back at this ruling, saying they are both:
“Quickly and without much warning, in the unenviable position of being forced to give expansive and unnecessary deposition testimony as a result of wrangling between the parties to a lawsuit that should have settled long before now.”
The filing also claims that the two declined to give general trial testimony. However, they have agreed to “give limited testimony regarding non-confidential matters at the trial of this case,” thanks in part to what is referred to as a “decades-long relationship with Jim France.”
What’s Happening? 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports are asking the court to allow them to depose legendary NASCAR team owners…
However, this filing from the team owners makes one thing very clear: Hendrick and Penske, who have won 20 NASCAR Cup Series championships (including the past six titles), refuse to take a side in the lawsuit.
“Neither man wants to play any role in this lawsuit whatsoever and have made clear that they will not “take sides” in this case. However, in view of their decades-long relationship with Mr. France, they agreed to provide the requested limited scope of testimony if required by a duly served subpoena.”
Now to the point of picking sides, some may recall that on October 3, a filing from NASCAR included a group of statements from owners, including Hendrick and Penske; however, a review of these letters did not favor NASCAR within the context of this lawsuit.
Nonetheless, suppose the teams get to speak with the owners. In that case, they will undoubtedly be a great source of information regarding the history of NASCAR, with 49 combined seasons competing in the top division of the sport.
Although these two, like other owners and industry members, believe the lawsuit should already be settled, the two sides have made little headway in doing so.
As of presstime, the teams and NASCAR are set to battle it out in court on December 1. 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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