What’s Happening?
On Friday, NASCAR notified the court of how it intends to approach the six charters formerly possessed by 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports following a fiery preliminary injunction hearing on Thursday.
In a new filing by NASCAR, it states the following:
— Jordan Bianchi (@Jordan_Bianchi) August 29, 2025
"NASCAR represents it will not issue, sell, convey, or lease any additional Charters for the 2025 Cup Series season;
"NASCAR represents that, without Court approval, it will not effectuate a sale, conveyance, or lease of…
In this response, NASCAR, which previously informed the court on Monday of its intention to “convey” a charter to a new, unknown team, is now saying it will hold at least six charters, including the two the teams acquired from the defunct Stewart-Haas Racing, until the end of the trial in December.
The teams acquired these two charters via a Dec. 18 preliminary injunction that also granted them charter status for their four previously owned charters. On Jun. 5, this injunction was overturned in the appeals court, and on Thursday, the teams went to court for a hearing on why they should be granted a new injunction preventing NASCAR from selling their now former charters.
The teams have claimed as recently as this week that NASCAR selling the charters would have the teams looking at “the imminent destruction of their businesses, regardless of how the jury rules.”
“F— the Teams” Michael Jordan, Denny Hamlin, and NASCAR Text Messages Revealed in Court
What’s Happening? Following Thursday’s preliminary injunction hearing between 23XI Racing/ Front Row Motorsports and NASCAR, multiple reports revealed vulgar text messages…
In Friday’s filing, NASCAR states it “will not effectuate a sale, conveyance, or lease of either of two (2) inactive Charters, which were previously held by Stewart-Haas Racing” and that it “will not issue, sell, convey, or lease more than four (4) additional Charters for the 2026 Cup Series season.”
This leaves a total of ten currently unused charters of 40 total, including the four NASCAR has yet to divvy out since the formation of the system in 2016. Notably, during yesterday’s hearing, Judge Kenneth D. Bell asked if NASCAR could theoretically assign a bonus charter from one of these four.
Judge also seemed to wonder since NASCAR can issue a 37th charter — albeit with teams having right of refusal — why can’t nascar just do that anyway. And if it was one of the 23XI/FRM charters, why couldn’t teams get a 37th if they win case? https://t.co/5OIqAb7FQU
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) August 28, 2025
Still, in this response, NASCAR maintains that it wants the injunction thrown out. 23XI and FRM’s lawyer, Jefferey Kessler, has already responded, saying that the teams disagree with this filing and that they intend to file a formal response on Tuesday.
A ruling on the team’s latest injunction to maintain charter status and keep NASCAR from selling its charters is expected to be released next week.
The charter saga is just one of many storylines stemming from the two teams’ Oct. 2, 2024, antitrust lawsuit filed against NASCAR. We have extensively covered all aspects of this lawsuit via the timeline linked below.
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…
What do you think about this? Let us know your opinion on Discord or X. Don’t forget that you can also follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.