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Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan–the trio who own 23XI Racing–should been pleased by a judge’s ruling on Monday.
Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images

U.S. District Judge Kenneth D. Bell on Monday denied NASCAR’s activity to stay in pending NASCAR’s appeal to the Fifth Circuit, in a move that changed the weight of the 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports antitrust situation to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
The lawsuit prevents Racer from denying 23XI Racing and Front Row the same conditions that were offered to charter groups and prevents the two teams from being forced to release legal claims against NASCAR. It applies to the 2025 period unless it is vacated on appeal. Since 23XI Racing and Front Row obtain a status arguably superior to those of charter teams, NASCAR has described this arrangement as unfair and unlawful in court documents. The Fourth Circuit’s appeal against NASCAR will continue to raise issues that might appeal to appellate judges more than Bell.

The injunction also has an impact on Front Row’s and 23XI Racing’s plans to buy charters from Stewart-Haas Racing ( SHR ). Bell’s decision on Monday changed the injunction so that 23XI Racing’s potential purchase of a charter from SHR is no longer protected while it is prohibited from “refusing to immediately approve” Front Row’s purchase of a charter from SHR. The plaintiffs ‘ motion for an injunction was not, according to the judge, in line with 23XI’s plan to purchase an SHR charter. Although the circumstances and issues surrounding 23XI’s purchase of a SHR charter” substantially overlap” the SHR charter’s transfer to Front Row, Bell wrote,” the situation is not entirely the same.” Bell noted that Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin’s team, 23XI Racing, could also file a separate injunction to stop the sale.
As for denying the stay, Bell wrote that “nearly all of the arguments” NASCAR raised “have already been made to the Court”. This viewpoint echoes one raised by the plaintiffs ‘ lead attorney, Jeffrey Kessler, in a filing earlier on Monday. Bell also criticised NASCAR, saying that he had a “misunderstanding” about the waiver clause and its relationship to the law. Bell blasted the release as “hardly a model of clarity,” despite NASCAR’s claim that the provision does not operate prospectively and is retroactive in effect. He added that NASCAR’s own arguments “admire that the release applies to far more than just “retrospective” claims.
Further, Bell underscored the” significant collateral harm” that would befall” SHR and its former employees” if he granted the stay. Bell claimed that many of SHR’s employees have “been let go and left to join Plaintiffs” and that the company “has already announced it is closing down most of its operations.” Granting the stay, Bell worried, would cause former employees to be” thrown into limbo”.

NASCAR’s legal focus will now turn to the appeal to the Fourth Circuit. Although appeals can take several weeks or even longer, it will request that the Fourth Circuit act as soon as possible. Additionally, proceedings typically take longer during the Christmas and New Year holidays, when many judges, clerks, and other court employees are away from their jobs.

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