Five months following 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports’ joint antitrust lawsuit against NASCAR, the sanctioning body filed a counterclaim on Wednesday.
According to NASCAR, both teams “willfully violated” antitrust laws with the charter agreement that was implemented with a deadline of Sept. 6, 2024, which neither team signed due to “unfair terms.”
NASCAR’s counterclaim stated, “the undisputed reality is that it is 23XI and FRM, led by 23XI’s owner and sports agent Curtis Polk, that willfully violated the antitrust laws by orchestrating anti-competitive collective conduct in connection with the terms of the 2025 Charter Agreements.”
Both teams were granted a preliminary injunction, which allows them to compete under the charter system in the NASCAR Cup Series this season.
“This is not the first time that 23XI and FRM have sought to impose their viewpoints, and those of their counsel, on the racing teams writ large,” NASCAR stated.
“And 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.”
As part of the countersuit, NASCAR requested an injunction that would eliminate guaranteed starting spots for teams “if Counterclaim Defendants persist in seeking to have the Charter agreements as unlawful under the antitrust laws.”
Such an injunction would essentially require 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports to qualify for races this season.
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