The 23XI Racing lawsuit has created quite a situation for NASCAR. First, they had two teams rebelling against their charter deal, and now that negotiations have not been met, they are being taken to court. Michael Jordan was the first one to call out the governing body for its “unfair” practices, and another team happened to be on the same boat as them.

Front Row Motorsports joined 23XI Racing when it came to not signing the contract. Now both of them are left with security for a chance to race in the upcoming season. Sure, the lawsuit must have made the governing body unhappy, but now the question stands: are they unhappy enough to lose Michael Jordan’s trust?

The position that Michael Jordan put NASCAR in

NASCAR makes most of its money due to its fans. From TV revenue to sponsorship money, it all comes in because the sport has millions of viewers. Those viewers mainly watch the sport for the drivers and important figures, and who else is more popular than Michael Jordan in the world of sports?

When Michael Jordan was approached by Denny Hamlin to start a team in NASCAR, he knew that his funding and influence play a huge role in this. Having millions of hardcore fans all across the world, Jordan is definitely a huge asset to NASCAR. Now that there is a lawsuit filed, it’s clear that Jordan is extremely low-spirited with the terms of the deal, and it needs to be resolved soon.

Jordan has been making regular headlines ever since the news of the team not signing the charter agreement. Fans are on the edge of their seats to know if the team will get to race next year. Bob Pockrass decided to get in on the scoop, and he put out a post on X discussing the matter. Now both the teams that filed the lawsuit have purchased a Stewart Haas Racing charter.

Pockrass did his due diligence on the situation and posted, “Going through the lawsuit again, it does say 23XI and FRM ‘have entered into purchase agreements for a third charter from another racing team whose owner has signed the 2025 Charter Agreements. ‘ The FRM deal was completed in May, 23XI deal Aug 7. Both with SHR.”

This just shows how confident Michael Jordan is about winning the suit. To add to that, 23XI Racing also extended Bubba Wallace’s contract amidst the discussions, which only makes fans believe that the team is positive that they will be racing next year.

Adam Stern asked Curtis Polk about what would happen to the team if the suit was lost. However, Polk pushed the question off to their lawyer, Jeffrey Kessler, who confidently said, “They are going to do their best to keep competing as long as they can, and we expect it to end in a legal victory or settlement that transforms this sport.”

Losing Michael Jordan would be a huge hit for NASCAR, mainly because they wouldn’t want to be the sport that the NBA legend lost his faith in. Such an issue will be detrimental to the sport, as many fans found their way into NASCAR because of following Michael Jordan. One thing to take note of is that this lawsuit is similar to the Ferko case back in 2002, and here is where the similarities lie.

Ferko lawsuit against NASCAR

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NASCARman shared details from the previous time the sport had gotten sued under a similar capacity in a repost on X. According to the caption, he stated, “A lot of this lawsuit is reminiscent of the language used in the Ferko Lawsuit of 2002. Imagine NASCAR executives would definitely want a settlement rather than actually go to trial over monopoly claims, but that could take a long time to reach.”

NASCARman reposted one of Bob Pockrass’s tweets, which had the main issue that the two teams have with NASCAR outlined in the first point itself. The opening sentence to the lawsuit reads, “This is a case about the unlawful monopolization of premier stock car racing by the France family in order to enrich themselves at the expense of the premier stock car racing teams that the fans come out to see and that sponsors and broadcasters value.” 

Ferko claimed that NASCAR and ISC violated an implied agreement to provide a second NEXTEL Cup race per season at Texas Motor Speedway. The lawsuit also included antitrust allegations, asserting that NASCAR and ISC were preventing SMI from obtaining the second race. The lawsuit was filed in February 2002 and it was settled in May 2004 after 2 years of trying to find a solution. However, the case never made it to trial as the ISC decided to sell the North Carolina Speedway to SMI.

From his deduction, NASCAR would not want to lose the suit, as the implications might be bigger than just making things right with the two teams. Many other teams have signed the charter and some of them did it under pressure. If NASCAR gives 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports whatever they want, it would be unfair to the other teams who want to compete and follow the guidelines set by NASCAR.

On the other hand, if Michael Jordan loses the case, it might make him lose faith in NASCAR, which could mean the NBA legend would pull out of the sport. Even if NASCAR wins the case, they will prove Michael Jordan’s point of being a bully, so the officials are in a difficult position as of now. Losing Michael Jordan in NASCAR might send a message to other investors saying that their opinion does not matter, and that is not something the organization wants.

Taking all this into consideration, what do you think the outcome of the lawsuit will be like? Will NASCAR win? Or will 23XI Racing and FRM prove that standing up for themselves was a good idea? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.