Front Row Motorsports (FRM), which currently fields two Ford Mustang Dark Horse race cars in the Cup Series with plans to add a third in the future, recently filed an antitrust lawsuit against NASCAR in the wake of what the team felt was an unsatisfactory charter agreement. The sanctioning body fired back, and FRM is in danger of having its charters revoked.
A copy of NASCAR’s 22-page filing, which was obtained by Kickin’ the Tires, states that the motion should be denied. The sanctioning body claims that the lawsuit filed by NASCAR Ford team FRM and Toyota team 23XI Racing is “meritless.”
“Plaintiffs have filed a meritless suit against NASCAR alleging baseless antitrust claims in order to obtain commercial agreements they previously rejected, and to attempt to extort more favorable contract terms,” the filing reads. “This Court should deny Plaintiffs’ Motion for Expedited Discovery (“Motion”), as it is a one-sided, non-reciprocal request for relief more akin to a motion to compel.”
The filing goes on to explain that NASCAR is prepared to run the 2025 season with just 32 charters. Currently, there are 36 charters. Two belong to FRM and two belong to 23XI; if they are revoked, neither team would be guaranteed a spot on the grid. They could still run “open” cars, but in the event that they failed to qualify, their NASCAR Ford and Toyota race cars would not be able to race.
“The deadline for Plaintiffs to sign 2025 Charter Agreements expired weeks ago, and NASCAR has taken steps, consistent with its contractual obligations to other Charter Teams, to plan for a season with only 32 Charters,” the filing states. “Plaintiffs do not need these Charter Agreements to race, and indeed have stated publicly that they will be racing in NASCAR regardless.”
FRM and 23XI did not sign the 2025 Charter Agreement – and they’re the only two teams in the NASCAR stable that haven’t done so. Their lawsuit against alleges that the sanctioning body only allowed 48 hours for teams to sign the new charter agreement before the first race in the Playoffs, which the teams felt was not ample time to negotiate.
Comment
These two teams have had two years to sort this out. Their claim of only having 48 hours is just plain wrong. They forget that they need NASCAR much more than NASCAR needs them.