Michael Jordan’s goal when he joined NASCAR in 2020 was to win. Plain and simple. Through four years, his and Denny Hamlin’s joint enterprise have stood by that motto and picked up 10 victories in the Cup Series, even managing a championship 4 berth in 2024. However, even though Tyler Reddick came within a hair’s width of securing 23XI Racing’s first championship this year, there is no time to celebrate. Jordan’s team is fighting to survive in their NASCAR lawsuit.

On November 8th, 23XI and Front Row Motorsports received a crippling blow. A North Carolina federal judge nullified their motion for a preliminary injunction – that would have ensured chartered spots for the teams’ cars in 2025. However, Team Jordan has unveiled a fresh attack round in a new deal for the upcoming season.

Michael Jordan claims NASCAR’s foul tactic

The basis of the NASCAR lawsuit was monopolistic practices that tilted the power balance in favor of the France family. Teams only had their charters and sponsors as the only means to stick around in the sport. So after Michael Jordan and Co. refused to sign the charter deal, they had to somehow secure chartered spots in the courtroom. They argued that as open teams, there is no guarantee of racing spots and also a drastic fall in revenue in a claim of ‘irreparable harm’. Yet U.S. District Court Judge Frank Whitney saw these ‘irreparable harms’ as speculative and stole the teams’ sole hope for the next season.

Driven to desperation, Michael Jordan and Co. went ahead with the open team agreement paperwork. This puts them at the risk of validating the legal claims release clause – under which no open team can file a lawsuit against NASCAR. Although 23XI and FRM will move ahead with appealing against the preliminary injunction denial, Jordan’s lawyer, Jeffrey Kessler, claimed NASCAR is deliberately hindering their efforts. Bob Pockrass updated the situation on X: “23XI/FRM: [NASCAR tries] to obstruct the appeal by dropping the release from the open agreements after Appellants filed the notice of appeal and motion to expedite, implying the appeal would be moot since the open agreements no longer contain the offending release.”

Additionally, the two teams clashed with NASCAR regarding the upcoming hearing dates. Michael Jordan’s faction is trying to settle the appeals case by the end of January 2025, shortly after which the Cup Series season begins. Yet NASCAR vehemently opposed this fast-tracked approach, citing the approaching Thanksgiving holiday. Pockrass updated: “23XI/FRM filed reply on why appeal to injunction ruling needs to be expedited: -Argues teams must know before Jan 28, just four days before the Clash, on how many charter teams there will be as the payouts for the season would be impacted. -Argues holidays can’t be avoided.”

This spiraling situation has prompted Denny Hamlin to be genuinely worried.

Not a time to relax for 23XI Racing

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Ideally, Michael Jordan’s team was among the best performers this year. With Tyler Reddick’s 3 race victories and regular season championship, the atmosphere within 23XI Racing was vibrant. Yet a dark curtain fell across it as the court’s ruling compromised its future. Jeffrey Kessler claimed they will “continue to fight for a more fair and equitable system in NASCAR.” But he outlined a darker scenario. If the appeal for the injunction falls through, then Kessler warned that both teams will face a “Hobson’s choice.” They would either need to give up their case or go “be out of business from competing as premier stock car racing teams.” Essentially outlining a lose-lose scenario.

In the midst of this crumbling situation, Denny Hamlin is clutching his head in despair. He crossed another season – his 19th year in the Cup Series – without a championship. However, Hamlin’s mind is preoccupied with the court dealings. “Of course, we feel very adamant on our side of things. There’s certainly, you know, when you wake up one Friday morning you know something’s coming, you’re nervous…I’ve poured a lot into the sport in multiple ways and certainly financially over the last four years I’ve put back a lot of the money that I got out of it back into it. And that certainly all can be wiped away pretty quickly. So, certainly, it’s a nervous time for me and we hope this thing gets resolved in a peaceful manner or a correct manner to fix it.”

Evidently, the NASCAR lawsuit is currently not turning out favorably for Team Jordan. We can only wait and see whether 23XI Racing and FRM have a solid future in the sport or not.