23XI, FRM’s counsel breaks silence as their decision to challenge NASCAR’s “bullying tactics” brutally backfires

23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports' legal counsel admitted to being 'disappointed' after the courts denied them a temporary restraining order against NASCAR. This leaves both teams to compete as open entries for the next two races until a decision is reached on yet another preliminary injunction.

On Thursday, July 17, the U.S. District Courts ruled in favor of the governing body since they assured that 23XI and FRM's charter status would remain intact for the Dover and Indianapolis weekends. It was earlier reported that both teams have made the necessary paperwork to compete as open teams as well.

The teams' attorney, Jeffrey Kessler, released a statement on the same day, saying,

"We are disappointed that the court declined to grant 23XI and Front Row Motorsports a temporary restraining order to allow the teams to continue racing as chartered teams." "We made the decision to bring this lawsuit to challenge NASCAR’s monopolistic practices and bullying tactics, and we are not going to let them push our teams – or others – out of the sport that they love. We are confident in the merits of our case and the teams remain focused on competing this weekend and continuing their playoff push,” he added (via X/Bob Pockrass)

23XI and FRM now have two weeks to secure their preliminary injunction, which they claim is different from the previous one overruled by the Fourth Circuit courts due to new evidence obtained from legal discovery. If they ultimately lose the case, their charters would be sold by the sanctioning body, leaving them with a third of the revenue typically earned by chartered teams.

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NASCAR reframes 23XI and FRM's anti-trust lawsuit as a contractual dispute

On Wednesday, July 16, NASCAR brought attention to Michael Jordan's deposition, where he asked for permanent charters and argued how such requests come under contractual disputes and not antitrust issues. This potentially negates any claims of monopolistic practices exercised by the sport, which massively undermines 23XI and FRM's lawsuit.

Fox analyst Bob Pockrass outlined the move in an X post.

"NASCAR filing reiterates many arguments. It stresses 23XI & FRM relinquished their charters when they didn’t sign 2025 agreement last yr. It mentions MJ, in deposition, said he wants permanent charters. NASCAR says that shows this is contract, not antitrust dispute," he wrote.

23XI co-owner Denny Hamlin remained optimistic despite these setbacks, but he acknowledged the risk of not qualifying as open entries. While Tyler Reddick consistently starts among the top 20, Bubba Wallace and Riley Herbst have found themselves outside the top 30 multiple times in the last few rounds.

This places them at risk of losing valuable points amid a crucial playoff push. Herbst is already well below the playoff cutline, and Wallace sits ahead with a mere three-point cushion.

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Edited by Tushhita Barua