23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports have dropped their appeal of the denied preliminary injunction request, which would have allowed the teams to field Chartered Entries, or have the wording changed in the agreement for Open Entries.
Filed on Wednesday, November 20, the documents indicate that “circumstances have changed in the underlying case, removing the need for this appeal and necessitating Appellants to seek new relief from the district court.”
On Saturday, Jeffrey Kessler, the lead attorney for 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports released a statement on behalf of the organization. In that statement, it was revealed that NASCAR has removed the anticompetitive release language from the Open Agreement ahead of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series campaign.
The statement read, in part, that “both race teams are pleased that they will continue to be a participant in this sport that they love while fighting to make it fair and just for all.”
With this restrictive language removed from the Open Agreement, 23XI Racing, and Front Row Motorsports are now free to compete as non-chartered entries in the NASCAR Cup Series without having to give up their antitrust rights.
The removal of this language by NASCAR, although a major victory for the organizations, also invalidates a major portion of their appeal argument. Therefore, the teams have elected to withdraw it.
“Appellants respectfully request that the court grant the voluntary dismissal of this appeal, along with the accompanying motion to expedite, with each side bearing its own costs. Appellants understand that this proceeding will be dismissed and cannot be reinstalled at a later date.”
As of the time of publishing, the next steps in the antitrust case filed by 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports, against NASCAR and its CEO Jim France, are unknown.
When Judge Whitney denied the injunction request, he made it clear that 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports could refile an injunction request, if they could prove irreparable harm by not racing under the Charter Agreement.
For the time being, 23XI and Front Row Motorsports will run its six NASCAR Cup Series entries without charters, which do give teams financial benefits and a guaranteed spot in the NASCAR Cup Series field.
