If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. While 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports were denied their initial preliminary injunction in an antitrust lawsuit against NASCAR, due to not showing “irreparable harm,” a renewed motion set forth by the teams on November 26 allowed the court to conclude that the, “motion is ripe for the Court’s decision,” according to public court documents released by the United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina.
According to the court, 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports will each be allowed to compete with their previous 2024 Chartered teams during the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season and will be treated as Chartered teams, minus the release in the Charter Agreement that forbids teams from pursuing antitrust lawsuits against the sanctioning body, for the entirety of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season as the trial unfolds.
As for the decision, Judge Kenneth D. Bell, the United States District Judge who took over the case from Judge Frank Whitney, cited Winter v. Nat. Res. Def. Council, Inc. 555 U.S. 7, 24 (2008) as precedent for granting the preliminary injunction.
“Here, the public interest strongly favors entry of a limited preliminary injunction in favor of the plaintiffs during the 2025 NASCAR race season, both to give fans of stock car racing the opportunity to watch (and root for and against) the full slate of teams and to allow Plaintiffs’ antitrust legal challenges to be considered,” the Judge concluded.
According to Judge Bell, the teams were able to show they would likely suffer irreparable harm through the loss of contractual control over their best drivers and the resulting inability to field their best race team. The teams were also able to prove they would potentially suffer irreparable harm in competing as an Open non-chartered team.
Additionally, NASCAR will be forced to keep the “status quo” as it pertains to the previously agreed upon Charter purchases from Stewart-Haas Racing and the two race teams. This means in addition to their two 2024 Chartered entries, 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports will also have their Charter acquisitions from Stewart-Haas Racing approved as a result of the preliminary injunction while being permitted to pursue their legal claims in the action.
While being granted the preliminary injunction in the antitrust lawsuit is a big win for 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports, the teams and their lead attorney Jeffrey Kessler still have work to do in order to win the overall case.
“The Court emphasizes that it does not reach and expresses no opinion as to Plaintiffs’ likelihood of success on their other Sherman Act claims, including but not limited to, their allegations of anticompetitive restrictions and conduct,” Judge Bell explained in the ruling.
While it’s not the end-all, be-all, Wednesday’s victory does seemingly shift the momentum in the case in the team’s favor after a few decent wins by NASCAR in the previous proceedings.
