Rick Hendrick and Roger Penske push back on deposition request in NASCAR legal battle with 23XI, FRM 

Veteran team owners Rick Hendrick and Roger Penske are fighting to limit their participation in the antitrust lawsuit brought by 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports against NASCAR. They believe that they should not have to give full depositions or be deposed only under narrow conditions.

23XI and Front Row filed the suit against NASCAR in October last year after they refused to sign the new charter agreements. The teams alleged that NASCAR holds a monopoly over "premier stock-car racing" and abuses that dominance through its charter process. Recently, the two teams demanded that Hendrick and Penske sit for depositions. A federal judge granted that motion, saying both owners are on NASCAR's witness list and may be called at trial, which is set for December 1.

In response, the two NASCAR team owners filed a motion on Friday, November 7, and asked the court to protect them. They argued that their only agreed-upon role was "limited testimony regarding non-confidential matters" in declarations they already submitted. They said that the new deposition demands seek "highly confidential" businesses, financial information from their teams, and discussions around the 2016 charter deal.

The Athletic's Jordan Bianchi shared the team owner's preliminary statement on X.

"Hendrick and Penske, in view of their decades-long relationship with Jim France, agreed to give limited testimony regarding non-confidential matters at the trial of this case, but in a way that did not force them to 'take sides' in this lawsuit. ... That has now morphed into an effort by the Plaintiffs to seek testimony potentially regarding HMS’ and Penske’s highly confidential financial and other business information," part of the statement read.

If the court allows depositions, Hendrick and Penske ask that questioning be confined to what they covered in their declarations.

Meanwhile, 23XI Racing, owned by Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin, and Bob Jenkins' Front Row Motorsports, got a legal win last month after a judge ruled in their favor. He held that the market definition of "premier stock-car racing" can proceed with their argument that NASCAR controls that market.

Hendrick and Penske defend NASCAR Charter system

In October, Roger Penske and Rick Hendrick also shared their statements defending the NASCAR Cup Series Charter system.

The team owners showed support in NASCAR's summary judgment motion. Hendrick said that the Charter agreement was "critical to the stability of NASCAR" and highlighted that while everything wasn't perfect, he believed that the overall deal secured vital assets for his team.

$7.1 billion-worth Penske (according to Forbes) also mentioned that the charter system was beneficial for long-term equity and shared that he also created a similar system in the IndyCar Series.

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Edited by Hitesh Nigam