Back in October 2024, NASCAR Ford team Front Row Motorsports (FRM) and Toyota outfit 23XI Racing teamed up against the sanctioning body, kickstarting a lengthy legal battle that’s had more twists and turns than a road course. The court initially ruled in favor of FRM and 23XI in the antitrust lawsuit, but NASCAR fought back, filing an appeal against the teams last month. On Wednesday, March 5th, 2025, NASCAR fired back yet again, filing a counterclaim against FRM and 23XI for violating antitrust laws.
According to a report from the Associated Press, NASCAR contends that business manager for 23XI co-owner Michael Jordan, Curtis Polk, “willfully” violated antitrust laws by coordinating actions among the teams in reaction to the sport’s latest charter agreement proposal. FRM and 23XI were the only two teams that stood their ground, rejecting the initial agreement they felt was unfairly rushed with only 48 hours to decide.
“Curtis Polk basically orchestrated and threatened a boycott of one of the qualifying races for a major event and others did not go along with him,” said Christopher Yates, attorney for NASCAR. “He got other teams to boycott a meeting that was required by the charter. When you have a threatened boycott of qualifying races that are covered by media, that’s not a good thing for other race teams, not a good thing when you are trying to collectively grow the sport.”
The counterclaim states that “It is truly ironic that in trying to blow-up the Charter system, 23XI and FRM have sought to weaponize the antitrust laws to achieve their goals,” alleging that Polk’s actions are “attempting to misuse the legal system as a last resort to secure new terms.”
Should the counterclaim be successful, the four charters held by FRM and 23XI must be returned to NASCAR. Yates stated that NASCAR is not interested in renegotiating the charter agreement, claiming that the system was created by request of the teams and that the sport will be just fine without it.
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