It’s finally that time. December 1.
After a 14-month period that has been filled with procedural legal drama, hundreds of different filings, and some heated back-and-forth exchanges, NASCAR, 23XI Racing, and Front Row Motorsports are going to have their day(s) in court, as they fight out an antitrust lawsuit brought against the sanctioning body.
The outcome of this intense legal battle, which is scheduled to take place over 10 in-court days throughout the next two weeks, could end up having major ramifications on the sport as we currently know it. However, until it plays out, nobody really knows what those changes will be.
PRE-TRIAL RUNDOWN: NASCAR, Two Teams Preparing for Antitrust Trial Beginning Monday
The majority of NASCAR’s media members are on-site in Charlotte, North Carolina, to watch and stand witness to how this explosive legal case unfolds, and with no electronic devices allowed in the courtroom, updates will only come during breaks in court.
Throughout the entire two-week trial, TobyChristie.com will be providing live updates from all of the happenings in the courtroom as they become available, courtesy of reports from reputable journalists on-site, including our own Toby Christie. So, check back often for additional updates.
Day #4: Thursday, December 4
Judge Bell’s Warning and Trial Pace
At the close of Day 4 of the antitrust trial between NASCAR and 23XI Racing/Front Row Motorsports, Judge Kenneth Bell sharply urged both sides to streamline their cases, warning the trial could not reasonably stretch three full weeks without testing the jury’s patience.
He criticized repeated reuse of exhibits and prolonged questioning over straightforward emails and texts, signaling he may intervene more directly if testimony continues to drag. Bell also reiterated his dissatisfaction with prior rule violations by NASCAR’s attorneys and ruled that Roger Penske must adjust his schedule to testify another day, prompting both sides to begin trimming witness lists to shorten the proceedings.
Bob Jenkins Asked About Awkward Charter Sale Attempt to 23XI Racing
Front Row Motorsports owner Bob Jenkins was questioned about a 2021 attempted Charter sale/merger with 23XI Racing, including an email exchange that showed Jenkins imposed a short negotiation deadline on Denny Hamlin, mirroring the very type of deadline techniques teams later criticized NASCAR for using. Jenkins defended the move as necessary due to manufacturer contract timing and denied claims that he acted unfairly or strung Hamlin along, noting Hamlin ultimately acquired a Charter from another team.
Jenkins also addressed internal emails suggesting he ended negotiations with 23XI and allowed Rick Ware to “charge whatever he wanted,” and denied that this gave Ware an unfair advantage, clarified financial testimony regarding per-car costs, and explained why he ultimately did not sign NASCAR’s 2024 Charter Agreement due to unresolved issues presented in a side letter.
NASCAR President Steve O’Donnell Takes the Stand
NASCAR President Steve O’Donnell faced intense examination from Jeffrey Kessler over internal text messages tied to contentious Charter negotiations, including disputed comments about Jim France’s reaction to a request for “evergreen” Charters and O’Donnell’s own frustrated language about early proposals he felt were harmful to teams. While often declining or unable to recall specifics, O’Donnell denied portraying France as a “dictator” and pushed back against allegations surrounding NASCAR’s exclusive track sanctioning agreements and the so-called “gold codes” vertical-integration documents, which he said were only contingency plans.
He also testified about NASCAR’s financial losses from marquee events like the Chicago Street Course and Mexico City race, defended their value in securing the Prime Video media rights deal, disclosed his compensation, and returned to the stand for further questioning as the day concluded.
Day #3: Wednesday, December 3
NASCAR Violates Two Court Orders On Day 3 of Antitrust Trial
Judge Kenneth Bell made it clear by the end of Day 3 of the antitrust trial between NASCAR and teams 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports that strict courtroom rules will be enforced. Bell ruled that NASCAR’s legal team violated two court orders during witness testimony on Wednesday.
The first violation occurred during the testimony of NASCAR executive Scott Prime, when attorneys revealed a previously redacted quote from Spire Motorsports owner Jeff Dickerson, who is not a witness in the case. The second came during Front Row Motorsports owner Bob Jenkins’ testimony, when NASCAR lawyers disclosed financial details from Jenkins’ non-NASCAR business ventures, despite prior agreements keeping that information off-limits.
Following the incidents, Judge Bell issued a stern warning to both sides that any further misconduct would lead to severe consequences. His remarks underscored that, like racing, the courtroom has rules, and failure to follow them will result in punishment handed down by the judge presiding over the case.
Front Row Motorsports’ Bob Jenkins Takes The Stand
Throughout the first two-and-a-half days of this groundbreaking antitrust lawsuit, there has been a lot of discussion surrounding the 23XI Racing side of things — including team owners Denny Hamlin, Michael Jordan, and Curtis Polk. But, until Wednesday afternoon, we’d yet to hear about Front Row Motorsports, the second team involved in this lawsuit against NASCAR.
Bob Jenkins, himself a successful businessman, got on the stand Wednesday to deliver a very financials-heavy first half of his testimony.
The testimony started off with the declaration that Front Row Motorsports, in its first decade of business, never once was able to turn a profit.
“It’s a tough sport. Sure, a couple of teams at the top are having an arms race, but mid-field and back, I don’t know of any team that has any prosperity,” Jenkins said to the court on Wednesday.
Front Row Motorsports was part of the original group that obtained NASCAR Cup Series charters in 2016, and while NASCAR contests that these teams received these for free, Jenkins said to get those charters, he had to keep two teams afloat for two seasons prior, which cost him an estimated $8 million.
As an underfunded team that has stayed alive in a dog-eat-dog world at NASCAR’s top level, Jenkins said he was “insulted” when Scott Prime suggested that all of the teams were overspending — and that was the problem.
Jenkins explained to the jury that he was in favor of the concept of a charter system, but just not under these circumstances and this Charter Agreement. However, its implementation still didn’t help Front Row Motorsports turn a profit.
When asked why Front Row Motorsports chose to purchase a third charter, for nearly $30 million, in 2024, Jenkins said, “I believe in this sport and hope someday charters are fair.”
In two decades of NASCAR ownership, Jenkins contested that he’s lost an average of $6.8 million per year, and has NEVER turned a profit since joining the sport in 2004.
The financial-heavy testimony continued when discussing the NextGen car, which Jenkins says was pitched as a cost-saving measure to teams, and has ended up being… not that. In the four years of its usage, the car’s price has gone from $220k per unit to $350k — and needing seven cars per charter puts the price well over $2 million for a single NASCAR Cup Series entry.
Was the Charter Agreement fair? Jenkins didn’t give a full answer before the court adjourned for an afternoon break, but he did say he thought it was a step in the right direction and that there were things he would have changed in the next set of negotiations.
But those negotiations never came.
Scott Prime Testimony Continues Into Wednesday Afternoon
NASCAR’s Executive Vice President of Global Strategy, Scott Prime, returned to the witness stand on Wednesday for more questions from Jeffrey Kessler and to be cross-examined by NASCAR.
In the first couple of days of the trial, a major talking point was the negotiating process of the newest Charter Agreement, which Prime seemed to have a major part in — whether that be in a one-on-one manner or through the Team Negotiating Committee.
As things progressed and NASCAR executives continued to talk, Prime was key in laying out some additional options for the sanctioning body when they got to the end of their desired road, including dropping four charters and assigning them on a first-come, first-served basis, putting a strict deadline down before offering to other parties, going back to being “Open” (no charters for anyone), going to just 32 teams and allowing NASCAR to select, or Project Gold Codes, a scenario where NASCAR owns all of the cars and hires all of the drivers themselves.
Kessler grilled Prime on a couple of key aspects, like his comments that typical franchises typically earned five times of total revenue, to which Prime conceded that the number has actually changed, and increased, since the comment was made.
RFK Racing and several other teams banded together to send NASCAR a letter with a plea to create a sustainable business model, because the current one wasn’t sustainable, and the teams would like that to be the case before signing any kind of agreement.
Then, there was the “Goodwill” provision — which doesn’t allow a team owner with at least 10% stake or anybody involved in team owner operations to race in a competing series or own a stake in a competing stock car series held in the United States.
Pressed about whether that was a non-compete, Prime described it as “a narrow one”.
Later on, when NASCAR looked to make governance changes, that provision got ramped up even further, to the point where now, team owners cannot compete in any other form of motorsport that isn’t approved by NASCAR.
Those changes in governance also brought the elimination of a three-strike rule, where teams could veto a proposed rule change with a vote of no three times.
Day #2: Tuesday, December 2
NASCAR’s Scott Prime Grilled by Jeffrey Kessler
Scott Prime, NASCAR’s EVP of Global Strategy, took the stand as attorneys for 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports pressed forward with claims that NASCAR has operated as an unlawful monopoly since the first Charter Agreement in 2016. Lead attorney Jeffrey Kessler focused heavily on internal emails suggesting NASCAR executives feared a breakaway stock car series could form if teams grew angrier about the tense Charter Negotiations, which began in 2022, prompting comparisons to the PGA Tour/LIV Golf split and concerns over the rise of SRX.
Testimony and documents revealed discussions about paths to block rival series by tightening NASCAR’s relationship with Speedway Motorsports, including strategies such as multi-year track agreements with exclusivity clauses or even acquiring Speedway properties outright. NASCAR ultimately pursued two-year sanctioning deals that included post-contract exclusivity, actions Kessler alleged effectively shut down any opportunity for a competing series to emerge.
Kessler also challenged NASCAR’s revenue-sharing narrative, noting claims that the sanctioning body receives only 10% of broadcast revenue are misleading because NASCAR owns many of the tracks through its acquisition of ISC. When those track revenues are included, Kessler argued, NASCAR captures the lion’s share of the sport’s total income.
In an internal email, Prime expressed surprise at learning IndyCar tracks pay the series rather than the series issuing payments to the tracks. Kessler suggested to Prime that NASCAR’s payments are tied to securing exclusivity.
Late-day questioning shifted to Charter negotiations, where Prime acknowledged internal frustration among NASCAR leadership over resistance from owner Jim France and NASCAR’s board to make concessions to teams. Teams had sought $722 million in annual Charter payments, plus shares of new revenue, future media growth, and permanent charters — all largely denied under the 2025 agreement, which fell roughly $300 million short of the requested funding and stripped teams of certain intellectual property rights.
Prime stated NASCAR’s only major concession was a clause preventing charters from being resold at better terms if current teams let them expire. Kessler further claimed final payment figures may have been reduced from earlier offers, a point Prime said he could not recall. Prime’s testimony is set to continue as the high-stakes antitrust trial moves into its next day.
Denny Hamlin Undergoes Cross-Examination Testimony
Denny Hamlin continued his testimony in federal court on Tuesday, with NASCAR getting the opportunity to cross-examine the Chesterfield, Virginia-native for the first time in this case.
Lawrence Buterman, a member of NASCAR’s legal counsel, led the charge on the cross-examination and notably asked Hamlin about whether the public could trust his word, considering he’s been quoted using NASCAR’s talking points in the past.
Hamlin quickly clapped back on that notion, claiming that it was “nonsense”, despite Buterman using an example of the 44-year-old on the Kenny Wallace Podcast, where he praised the NextGen car and NASCAR’s planned trip to Mexico City as great things for the sport.
“Because, if I say anything bad, I get a lashing from NASCAR,” Hamlin said about his positive comments on the Kenny Wallace Podcast. “So, publicly, it’s all sunshine and rainbows. My job is to take the talking points NASCAR says to him [Wallace] and say them publicly. If he says anything bad, he gets a phone call from NASCAR.”
That was just one small piece of the wide-spanning testimony that was provided on Tuesday by Hamlin, a 60-time race-winner in the NASCAR Cup Series, which included several financial figures, both involving himself and 23XI Racing.
According to the team’s financials, 23XI Racing is one of the few NASCAR Cup Series teams operating in the black. Fielding three entries at NASCAR’s top-level, the team has a profit margin of 2.26% which Hamlin contests isn’t that great considering the $40 million worth of sponsorship that they bring in.
“I’m one sponsor away,” Hamlin said. “All it takes is one to go away, and all of the profit is gone.”
Hamlin says that the teams collectively are losing more and more money each season, which could be due to the loss of sponsors from the media rights agreement, which has drifted away from network television and more towards streaming, including deals with Amazon’s Prime Video and TNT Sports / HBO Max.
Although concerns have been brought to NASCAR, and Steve Phelps originally promised a paradigm shift with this new Charter Agreement, Hamlin says that nothing like that has materialized at all.
It’s been a two-decade career for Hamlin in the NASCAR Cup Series, competing for Joe Gibbs Racing, but as the days of being a full-time driver continue to wind down over the next couple of decades, his legacy likely falls within the walls of Airspeed.
“It’s time for change,” Hamlin said. “I’ve spent 20 years trying to change this sport and grow it further.”
Specifically mentioned in Hamlin’s testimony on Tuesday was a meeting he had with Jim France, where he left a Nashville hotel feeling “very discouraged” about the state of negotiations. Per Hamlin, France believes teams are overspending and would like to get the per-car cost down to $10 million.
That’s a mark that Hamlin says is unrealistic, considering it would require teams to slash spending in half.
Other parts of Tuesday’s testimony from Hamlin, which lasted about four hours, included an attempt by NASCAR to paint Hamlin and 23XI Racing as reckless spenders, between the $35 million race shop and an extravagant holiday party in 2021, in which the team spent 17% of their operating budget.
Day #1: Monday, December 1
Final Storylines From Day 1 of Antitrust Trial
- Denny Hamlin Emotional in Testimony on Day 1 of Antitrust Lawsuit Against NASCAR
- NASCAR Claims Lawsuit Was ‘Curtis Polk and 23XI’s Plan From The Start’
NASCAR, Race Teams Present Opening Statements
4:15 p.m. ET: Both sides of the antitrust lawsuit brought against NASCAR were allowed to present their opening statements on Monday afternoon.
23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports asserted in their statements that any evidence they hold will prove that NASCAR engaged in anti-competitive behaviour when negotiating for the latest iteration of the Charter Agreement.
On the other hand, NASCAR says the teams only brought up the antitrust charges after the talks had concluded, and that the actions of both teams show that they’ve benefited from the Charter Agreement.
Judge Bell told jurors to keep an open mind in these proceedings, as despite opening remarks that have lasted more than two hours, there hasn’t been a single piece of evidence shown yet. The court took a small break around 4:00 pm ET, and will resume for another hour before finishing up for the day.
Hamlin, Polk Barred From Courtroom Until After Testimony
12:40 p.m. ET: Judge Kenneth Bell has ruled that Denny Hamlin and Curtis Polk, both of whom are co-owners of 23XI Racing with Michael Jordan, will be barred from being in the courtroom until their testimonies are heard.
The judge confirms that his decision was made “very reluctantly” and that he really wishes Hamlin and Polk could be present, but because NASCAR invoked a rule about having a single corporate representative per side (which in this case, is already Michael Jordan), Bell says he doesn’t want to trigger any kind of technicality that would throw this case sideways in the event it is appealed.
Hamlin and Polk are permitted to be in the courtroom for the team’s opening statements on Monday, but will then be required to leave until their testimony is concluded, the date of which has yet to be confirmed.
Judge Bell Upset Over Opening Statements; Bans Presentation of Exhibits
11:45 a.m. ET: Judge Kenneth Bell isn’t pleased with either side of this antitrust case already, and it’s only been a couple of hours. When reviewing opening statements on Monday, Bell found both sides to be using impermissible arguments, and as a result, has barred the presentation of exhibits during their statements.
Bell was quoted as saying, “If we can be less confrontational about it next time, maybe you’ll get to do what you want to do.”
Jury Selected for NASCAR, 23XI/FRM Antitrust Case
11:25 a.m. ET: The first step of this antitrust case brought against NASCAR by 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports was to select jurors, which was done first thing on Monday (December 1). The selection included six jurors and three backups.
According to Matt Weaver of Motorsport, the candidate pool was asked (among other questions, of course) whether they were familiar with Michael Jordan and had any strong opinions about him, one way or the other. Jordan, an NBA superstar, is a major part of this case as the primary owner of 23XI Racing.
One candidate did, in fact, have strong feelings about Michael Jordan, and upon making his way out of the door, made a fist pump gesture at the NASCAR team owner, which garnered a chuckle from everybody involved.
Candidates were also dismissed for a variety of reasons, including working at Hendrick Automotive Group and knowing a great deal about NASCAR and the parties involved. One potential juror was dismissed because he couldn’t hear Judge Bell and needed to get his hearing aid fixed.
Johnny Stephenson of Alston & Bird is now the arguing attorney for NASCAR.
Potential Witness List Revealed for NASCAR Antitrust Trial
Per Matt Weaver of Motorsport, the following people are on the potential witness list:
- Jim France
- Timothy Frost
- Heather Gibbs
- Denny Hamlin
- Brian Herbst
- Bob Jenkins
- Lesa France Kennedy
- Michael Jordan
- Jonathan Marshall
- Steve Newmark
- Steve O’Donnell
- Steve Phelps
- Curtis Polk
- Scott Prime
- Daniel Rascher
- Anthony Smith
- Edward Snyder
- Jordan Bazant
- Tim Clark
- Rick Hendrick
- Ron Drager
- Jerry Freeze
- Rob Kauffman
- Ben Kennedy
- Steve Lauletta
- Gene Mason
- Gene Mato
- Roger Penske
- John Probst
- Cal Wells III
- Edwin Desser
- Kevin Murphy
