The battle appears to be waning on one side. When Michael Jordan and his compatriots first filed the NASCAR lawsuit, they were confident. Getting a multi-case-winning lawyer, Jeffrey Kessler, on their side looked like the ultimate ticket to dismantling 76 years’ worth of “monopolistic practices” in NASCAR. However, the cards fell one by one, and the latest domino to fall drooped fans’ hopes.

After federal court Judge Frank D. Whitney denied both 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports their request for a preliminary injunction, hope still hung by a thread. People expected the teams to thunder back in their appeal. However, both Cup Series teams lost their confidence in lumps.

Michael Jordan’s fading posture

When both 23XI and FRM stood out of the new charter deal, other teams applauded their guts. Their aims were simple: to realize the larger goals that the Race Team Alliance strove for the past two years. That included permanent charters, greater autonomy in decision-making, and heftier shares in revenue. According to court documents, NASCAR yielded to the latter demand, making teams the beneficiaries of 50% of the income from a gigantic media rights deal signed last year. This marked the sanctioning body’s defensive stance. When Michael Jordan and Co. cited “irreparable harm” in competing as open teams, the judge termed that as “speculative, possible.”

That was how their first preliminary injunction was denied, albeit with room to appeal and refile. Then NASCAR made a concession just enough to prove how generous it is—it allowed Michael Jordan‘s team and FRM to sign as open teams without forfeiting their rights to an antitrust lawsuit. Jeffrey Kessler was still determined, as teams submitted a second preliminary injunction to the court with new evidence against NASCAR.

The language stated, “My clients are also seeking this relief to strike down the release that NASCAR has removed from open agreements but still maintains for charter agreements to try to protect its monopoly. I’m confident the court will act to protect my clients from NASCAR’s anticompetitive conduct.”

However, 23XI Racing deleted the second preliminary injunction post from Twitter. This came after they dropped their appeal over the first injunction request. These falling dominoes further prove that Michael Jordan and Co. are part of the losing side in this legal battle. Now stripped down to open teams, 23XI and FRM announced new drivers joining their guilds: Riley Herbst and Todd Gilliland, respectively. However, the teams will not be able to compete in the Busch Light Clash race at Bowman Gray Stadium. That race is good for a warm-up to the season, as Denny Hamlin outlined: “Yeah, it’s always a good. The Clash is always a good repetition. A rep. It’s certainly one where, even though you don’t have pit crews there, it’s good for the teams to work some kinks out.”

This dismal predicament prompted alarm bells to ring out in the fan community.

The NASCAR community sees the omens

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At this point, the initial ‘confidence’ that Michael Jordan claimed to have seems to have fizzled out for good. NASCAR is throwing both teams some crumbs to appease them, like removing the anticompetitive release language from the Open Agreement for next season. This is a solid blow to Jordan’s lawsuit that relied on the claim that NASCAR is ‘exclusionary’ or ‘monopolistic.’ Given the tattered circumstances, fans insinuate a swift defeat for Jordan and Co. “I don’t think any sports league has ever lost an antitrust case, and with the way the courts are now, I don’t see Denny winning this.” Another fan wrote with the same hopelessness: “So basically, they’re losing.”

Although Michael Jordan and Co. tried to file the second injunction, they mysteriously withdrew their line of attack. The terms of that request involved removing the anticompetitive release language applicable to all teams. One fan guessed that this is because 23XI Racing and FRM need support from other teams. “Tinfoil hat prediction: they want to remove it from the charter agreement so that they can beg other teams to join them in the lawsuit.” However, 13 out of 15 teams had initially signed the charter agreement. So after abandoning them initially, one fan does not believe the teams would support Jordan’s crew now. “What if they do remove it, and other teams still don’t join the lawsuit?”

Some pointed fingers at Michael Jordan’s lawyer. Jeffrey Kessler is a famed sports lawyer who won high-profile cases. Most recently, he won the House vs. NCAA case, granting college athletes huge scholarships. However, his stint with NASCAR seems to be going awry, as the France family currently has the upper hand. So one fan demanded more from him. “I know its basic lawyer stuff, but man, the team lawyer needs to come up with new stuff because he sounds like a broken record.”

Evidently, Michael Jordan and Co. are not faring well in the courtroom. Unless new avenues of rescue open up, NASCAR may become the victor.