A single federal judge summoned NASCAR and two teams, 23XI Racing (co-owned by Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin) and Front Row Motorsports, into court on Tuesday. The judge, Kenneth Bell, wanted to know exactly what they hoped to achieve in this antitrust fight—and warned of the cost and complexity if it dragged on.
“It’s hard to picture a winner if this goes to the mat—or to the flag—in this case,” Bell said. “It scares me to death to think about what all this is costing.”
The heart of the conflict? NASCAR’s charter system, which functions like a franchise: teams buy a charter guaranteeing entry into every Cup race and share in league revenue. Last fall, NASCAR forced a take-it-or-leave-it charter agreement—23XI and Front Row balked. Thirteen other teams signed, possibly feeling like they had no real choice.
23XI and Front Row are now asking Judge Bell to dismiss NASCAR’s recent countersuit. That countersuit claims Jordan’s business manager, Curtis Polk, violated antitrust laws by organizing collective bargaining and threatening boycotts. NASCAR alleges Polk circulated a Benjamin Franklin quote among the 15 Race Team Alliance (RTA) teams: “We must all hang together, or most assuredly we shall all hang separately,” and that he urged them to press NASCAR through joint action.
The teams’ attorney, Jeffrey Kessler, called NASCAR’s claims misleading and legally hollow. He said the RTA never objected to joint negotiation—and that slapping an antitrust label on a previously accepted tactic is nonsense. He accused NASCAR of trying to distract from their own monopolistic behavior. He also criticized NASCAR’s attorneys for making attacks on Polk “false, unfounded and frankly beneath the dignity” one would expect.
NASCAR stood by its accusations. Their lawyer argued that Polk encouraged the RTA to consider boycotting Daytona 500 qualifying, a threat NASCAR took very seriously—especially since the RTA once declined to meet with NASCAR officials.
Kessler said the teams remain open to a settlement—but NASCAR insists the charter terms are not negotiable. Neither side would confirm whether settlement talks are happening. Judge Bell didn’t set a timeline for dismissal; he offered to rule quickly.
Kessler plans to appeal immediately. A three-judge appellate panel recently denied an injunction that would have forced NASCAR to treat the two teams as charter holders pending trial, though that decision didn’t address the merits of the case, which will go to trial in December. If the appeal fails and the case drags out, 23XI and FRM risk losing their assured entry and prize money—forced instead to race as “open,” qualifying on speed each week and earning far less.
A heated dispute over internal documents further illustrates the depth of this legal pit. NASCAR has demanded messages from RTA executive Jonathan Marshall—searching thousands of texts and emails for specific phrases. RTA lawyers say this sweeps up over 3,000 texts, some privileged or deleted. Judge Bell scheduled a hearing on that discovery fight for next Tuesday.