Both Plaintiffs, Front Row Motorsports and 23XI Racing, in the NASCAR antitrust lawsuit have a major question lingering as the season draws to an end. What will happen to their two new charters? Denny Hamlin finally commented on these this past weekend, but his response only raises more questions than answers.
What’s Happening? Several shocking tidbits of information have arisen from 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsport’s lawsuit against NASCAR. The 46-page…
When 23XI Racing and FRM announced their lawsuit on Oct. 2, many people flocked to the text. In the suit’s body, pages 12 and 13 contained some key information that most people didn’t know they were looking for.
On page 12, we learned that FRM’s newly purchased charter still was not owned by FRM. Despite announcing the purchase in June, by Oct. 2, FRM had yet to announce the driver of that car. This is likely due to the fact that NASCAR has not approved the transaction yet, per the lawsuit:
“In May 2024, Front Row purchased a third charter from Stewart-Haas Racing, but the transaction is in escrow and requires approval from NASCAR. In the interim, Stewart-Haas Racing, LLC signed NASCAR’s 2025 Charter Agreement.”
As shocking as this new information was, page 13 further expanded on this story by confirming that 23XI also purchased a charter, and, much like FRM’s, its future is in limbo, awaiting NASCAR’s approval.
“23XI is currently in the process of acquiring a third charter. 23XI and StewartHaas Racing, LLC entered into a purchase agreement on Aug. 7, 2024, but the transaction is still in escrow and requires approval from NASCAR. In the interim, Stewart-Haas Racing, LLC signed NASCAR’s 2025 Charter Agreement.”
When the NASCAR community learned about these charters, many fans and insiders were curious about what this meant for the long term. Both teams are at risk of losing their charters. However, whether or not this includes their new ones is unclear.
Last week, NASCAR responded to 23XI and FRM’s preliminary injunction request. This request would have granted 23XI and FRM the right to compete in 2025 as members of the 2025 NASCAR Charter Agreement, with a few caveats.
This response from NASCAR confirmed that the sport is planning on just 32 of 36 chartered entries next year. Notably, those 32 would mathematically include the four Stewart-Haas Racing Charters, one of which is going to Trackhouse racing. However, there is still no word on what is happening with the two purchased by the Plaintiffs.
NASCAR’s response, as interesting as it was, contained no information about the two new charters. Most wondered whether the teams would gain the charters if the injunction was granted. This would allow them to enjoy the benefits of charter ownership and their new charters, an all-out win for the Plaintiffs.
However, Bob Pockrass of Fox Sports reported on Saturday that 23XI Racing co-owner Denny Hamlin says he and NASCAR have not discussed the approval of these charters.
What’s Happening? 23XI and Front Row Motorsports face an uncertain future with their upcoming Nov. 4 injunction hearing. This preliminary injunction…
Unfortunately, this report fails to answer any major questions and, in fact, only raises more questions about the status of these transactions. Who is affected by the holdup? What are NASCAR fans waiting for? What is the worst-case scenario for SHR and 23XI?
Several parties are negatively affected by this, both the purchasers, FRM/23XI, and the seller, Stewart-Haas Racing. SHR is closing up shop at the end of the year and would like to have three charters sold, and this only drags SHR into the two sides quarrel.
An unlikely scenario that benefits SHR is that NASCAR approves the sale, 23XI and FRM don’t get their injunction, and NASCAR revokes six instead of four charters. However, this scenario remains unlikely as both parties seem to be focused on the Nov. 4 injunction hearing rather than figuring out this small detail.
If NASCAR holds up the charters, SHR will miss out on millions of dollars. If they approve the sale, 23XI and FRM get their charters. However, this only matters if the two get their injunction, and that is not up to NASCAR but rather the courts.
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With the NASCAR team Legacy Motor Club set to expand, there are many names in the rumor mill as to who will drive the team’s third car in 2027, but one new name entering the rumor mill could be the biggest surprise yet.
What’s Happening? The NASCAR rumor mill is heating up as a new rumor suggests that a former series champion and an…
During the 2025 season, Legacy Motor Club, which missed the opening to buy one of Stewart-Haas Racing’s three Charters for sale at the end of the 2024 season, was aggressively pursuing a third charter for its NASCAR Cup Series team.
This mission took the team to court, where it battled Rick Ware Racing over a Charter sale gone awry, with hopes of getting this charter ahead of the 2026 season.
While this goal never came to fruition, per a settlement between the two parties, LMC will have a third Charter for 2027, as RWR will sell the charter currently leased to RFK for their No. 60 at year’s end.
Now that all the excitement has leveled off, it’s decision time for LMC, as they search for a driver to fill this new seat ahead of the 2027 season.
The rumor mill concerning this third seat is heating up, as two names floated through the NASCAR community earlier this week, when a post from a well-known rumor mill account listed Riley Herbst and Jesse Love as potential candidates to drive for LMC in 2026.
Herbst, for one, is facing the loss of his ride at 23XI Racing with the rumored (and all but confirmed) promotion of top prospect and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Champion Corey Heim to full-time status in 2027.
Love, on the other hand, seems destined for a Cup Series ride as the reigning NASCAR Xfinity Series Champion, alongside this rumored spot at LMC, could see a spot open up at his current home, Richard Childress Racing, depending on how Kyle Busch’s 2026 season shapes out.
But, not even three races into the 2026 season, the rumor mill is still spitting out potential candidates for this third car.
What’s Happening? NASCAR Hall of Famer and Seven-Time Champion Jimmie Johnson’s Legacy Motor Club is suing Rick Ware Racing over a…
This time, the online rumor mill is heating up for a potential return to the Cup Series, with rumors pointing to former Wood Brothers Racing driver Harrison Burton as another potential candidate to join LMC in 2026.
Burton, the son of former Cup Series standout turned NBC Sports analyst Jeff Burton, most recently raced full-time with WBR in the Cup Series in 2024 before losing his ride at year’s end, moving to AM Racing for the 2025 NASCAR Xfinity Series season, and eventually jumping to Sam Hunt Racing (and Toyota) for the 2026 NASCAR OAP Series season.
While Burton’s return to NASCAR’s second-highest division has not produced any wins, the 25-year-old still maintained a solid effort in 2025, granting AM Racing its first-ever run in the playoffs on points alone.
Much like Herbst, Burton has a winning resume in the OAP Series, and, most important of all, loyal sponsorship, with brands like Dex Imaging sticking with him throughout most of his development, time in the Cup Series, and his return to the OAP Series.
Burton is the type of driver that fits the LMC mold, as, if he were to return to Cup, he would have taken a similar path back to the top that fellow second-generation driver and LMC Cup Series talent John Hunter Nemechek took before landing with LMC in 2024.
A potential return to the Cup Series would also mark an ironic turn in Burton’s career, as he was once a top prospect for Toyota, even making a Cup Series start with the manufacturer before jumping ship to Ford in 2022.
Of course, many fans would say that, given a choice, they would pick Love over Burton, but, then again, LMC may not have a choice, and a driver as experienced as Burton could be a safe bet to get this third team off the ground at the very least.
As always, these are just rumors, and it’s important to note that neither party has expressed plans for the still very, very far away 2027 season. Furthermore, as most NASCAR fans know, even rumors that may seem like a done deal can change at the very last second.
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An email sent by former Joe Gibbs Racing Competition Director Chris Gabehart claims that resentment towards him from members of the Gibbs family made him feel that the future of JGR was a “no-win situation.”
Last week, Joe Gibbs Racing filed a lawsuit against former Crew Chief and Competition Director Chris Gabehart, claiming that the former Daytona 500 Champion had schemed to steal vital information from the team in the lead-up to his departure from JGR for Spire Motorsports.
Not even ten days since JGR filed this lawsuit, the two have continued to trade barbs and accusations back and forth through the court system.
In a filing earlier this week, Gabehart accused the team of misleading him in his duties as competition director in 2025, and specifically calling out JGR’s No. 54 team, driven by Joe Gibbs’ grandson Ty, alleging that the team received “differential treatment.”
Friday, an email sent to JGR CFO Tim Carmichael by Gabehart in November 2025 (released as part of this lawsuit) showed just how uncomfortable he had grown working at JGR during his tenure as Competition Director, with the industry veteran stating that Ty Gibbs and his mother, Heather, held “resentment” towards Gabehart.
The now former Competition Director went on to say in this email that, as the two were the future bosses of JGR, “I’m afraid that leaves me in a no-win situation.”
These exchanges, including the claims made by Gibbs in his filing earlier this week, have swept fans into a whirlwind of sorts, with the two sides even meeting in court today for the lawsuit’s first official hearing.
Of course, Gabehart’s claims about the state of operations at JGR pale in comparison to the accusations made by the Gibbs team in their initial lawsuit.
On Tuesday, the team even added Spire Motorsports, Gabehart’s current employer, as a co-defendant, and requested the court force Gabehart to sit out at least the 18 months since his termination before doing any work in NASCAR similar to his role at JGR.
The team is also asking that any information procured by Spire from Gabehart be returned, though the CEO of TWG Motorsports, which owns Spire, Dan Towriss, told Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports Friday that “Spire doesn’t want data from Joe Gibbs Racing. It doesn’t have data from Joe Gibbs Racing. No point in time has it had data from Joe Gibbs Racing.”
Alongside Spire, Gabehart adamantly denied any wrongdoing in a post to social media last week, saying, “I feel compelled to speak out today and forcefully and emphatically deny these frivolous and retaliatory claims.”
What’s Happening? Former Joe Gibbs Racing Crew Chief and Competition Director Chris Gabehart has filed a new response slamming JGR as…
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A few years ago, I looked at the racetracks preserved on iRacing that no longer exist in real life. After digging deeper, I expected to find one common reason they all shut down. Instead, each one tells a completely different story — from booming cities and land value spikes to ownership changes, broken promises, and even mysteries that still don’t have clear answers.
Some tracks were pushed out by urban development. Some lost the one person fighting to keep them alive. Others faded due to declining support — or were never meant to last forever in the first place. No two closures are the same, and that’s what makes this deep dive so fascinating.
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