The eyes of the greater sports world have been focused recently on the NFL regular season… and not much else. So what else is new, right? Well, bubbling below the football-covered surface is a major lawsuit involving Nascar, two of its teams, and a challenge to the very structure of the 76 year old organization. Here’s a breakdown by someone with little to no law experience other than occasionally beating a speeding ticket in court.
—The lawsuit was prompted by Nascar’s final “take it or leave it” charter agreement offer, which seemed to please no one in the team ownership ranks. And while it was the usual sports business case of billionaires vs. millionaires, two teams decided to, well, leave it.
—For those who don’t know, the charter system guarantees 36 entries for every Cup points race, as well as guaranteeing a certain percentage of Nascar’s media rights earnings to the teams. I’m guessing that Nascar, if they could, would make the guaranteed amount “zero”, while teams, if they could, would make the guaranteed amount “all of it”.
—Those two teams are 23XI racing, co-owned by Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin, and Front Row Motorsports, owned by Bob Jenkins. This, of course, means that the old-school, hardcore racing fans who’ve blamed the France family for everything wrong with the sport must side with the people signing Bubba Wallace’s checks. To quote Bart Simpson, “the ironing is delicious.”
—23XI’s management has called the current Nascar economic model unfair and competitive, pointing out that the France family controls both Nascar and a majority of the sport’s race tracks, not to mention certain licensing and parts distribution avenues. So yeah, Nascar, remember how happy you were to have the world’s most-famous athlete joining the sport? Well, that spotlight is shining directly on your business practices now.
—The media seems to have already taken an anti-23XI/FRM stance. Denny Hamlin complained about an interview on SiriusXM’s Nascar channel about the lawsuit being censored, while Ryan McGee of ESPN put out a bizarre column criticizing the teams for filing the suit shortly after Hurricane Helene. Yeah, I don’t get it either.
—What does the lawsuit mean for the short-term? Well, I’m going to take a really wild guess here and assume that 23XI, Denny Hamlin, and FRM’s race cars are being inspected VERY closely these next few weeks.
—Medium-term? The teams are seeking an injunction that would allow them to compete with guaranteed spots next season until the lawsuit is settled or a verdict is reached. Again, expect inspections of their cars like when you insult the TSA officer at the airport.
—Long-term? Well, the endgame of 23XI and Front Row remains to be seen. Are they looking for fundamental changes to how the sport operates, or are they looking for a quick settlement to get them a bigger “piece of the pie”? The answer is likely somewhere in-between, but hopefully we don’t have a team/sanctioning body split like IndyCar in 1996—I don’t feel like finding out who the Nascar version of Billy Boat is.
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