In October 2024, Front Row Motorsports and 23XI Racing, owned by Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin, sued NASCAR on grounds of monopolistic and anti-competitive behavior. In March, NASCAR filed a countersuit against the two teams, claiming that they and 23XI co-owner Curtis Polk had “wilfully violated the antitrust laws” by “orchestrating anticompetitive collective conduct” with respect to NASCAR’s 2025 charter agreements. This filing was one of the most significant in the case’s history. Jeffrey Kessler, an attorney for 23XI and Front Row, responded by denouncing NASCAR’s action as a “desperate attempt to shift attention away from its own unlawful, monopolistic actions” and a “meritless distraction.”
NASCAR has requested permission to file an amended counterclaim with additional evidence in the most recent filing in the Charlotte Division of the Western District of North Carolina U.S. District Court. This material relates to’more than 200 pages of emails, texts and memoranda’ that Front Row and 23XI submitted after NASCAR’s counterclaim filing date, according to the petition. NASCAR states in the filing: “Those documents unquestionably support the allegations made by NASCAR in its counterclaim: 23XI, Front Row, and Curtis Polk knowingly entered into unlawful agreements with other teams on matters like determining how the compensation they received from NASCAR would be distributed among the co-conspirator teams and fixing the compensation that they received himself.
According to the paper trail, these illegal arrangements were executed directly as well as through Jonathan Marshall of the Race Team Alliance (“RTA”) as a middleman. According to NASCAR, “Although its existing counterclaim more than adequately states a claim for relief (as explained in NASCAR’s concurrently filed oppositions to Counterclaim Defendants’ motions to dismiss), NASCAR seeks leave to file an amended counterclaim that includes excerpts of these recently produced documents because they confirm—beyond any doubt—that 23XI and Front Row reached unlawful agreements with each other and other teams, and that Curtis Polk was the ringleader of the concerted effort to set compensation received by the teams, boycott NASCAR events, interfere with NASCAR’s negotiations with media partners, and reach unlawful agreements.”
“Given this newfound information, NASCAR seeks leave to amend its counterclaim to account for the new, additional factual information that confirms the existence and scope of Counterclaim Defendants’ illegal conspiracy.” The court hearing for the antitrust action is scheduled for December 1st. We’ve reached out to Front Row and 23XI for comments.
