“The France family and NASCAR are monopolistic bullies,” plaintiffs in 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports minced no words while filing for a federal antitrust lawsuit against the sanctioning body in the Western District of North Carolina (Charlotte) on Wednesday. But wasn’t it a long time coming? First, It took years in trying to adapt to the 2016 charter model, and secondly, when that did not work, the 15 charter-holding organizations kept negotiating for two long years only for their demands to fall on deaf ears.

Out of the 13 who accepted defeat in front of a take-it-or-leave-it offer on Sept. 6, one said they were ‘coerced,’ while another said it was ‘under duress.’ With the France family accused of choking the teams in a stranglehold, the defendants in NASCAR or the CEO had no immediate comment but the only two charter holdouts followed up on their statement, saying, “And bullies will continue to impose their will to hurt others until their targets stand up and refuse to be victims. That moment has now arrived.”

Even amidst deteriorating charter conversations with NASCAR, 23XI and FRM held hopes for expanding their teams. But that dream looks bleak at best, as both are at an impasse with the sanctioning body. In an episode of The Teardown, journalist Jeff Gluck broke down how the France family has choked Michael Jordan’s racing ambitions, and the details are as chilling as they can get!

“23XI is currently in the process of acquiring a third charter. 23XI and Stewart-Haas Racing entered into a purchase agreement on Aug 7. So, 23XI trying to expand into three cars with an agreement to buy the charter. But the transaction is still an escrow and requires approval from NASCAR. But Stewart-Haas went ahead and signed the agreement. 

“Same for Front Row. It says, ‘Front Row, they bought their third charter from Stewart-Haas in May. But that transaction is still an escrow and requires approval from NASCAR.'”

In response, Jordan Bianchi was right in pointing out the fact he absolutely doesn’t have an idea about “What’s gonna happen next,” considering the fact that the plaintiffs were reluctant to divulge what got cited in the ongoing lawsuit. What we do know for now is they have hired top antitrust attorney Jeffrey Kessler, seeking answers from NASCAR and Chairman Jim France “related to their exclusionary practices and intent to insulate themselves from any competition.” The suit argues that NASCAR impedes the possibility of fair competition and is in violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act which prevents any stock car racing team from competing on the circuit “without accepting the anticompetitive terms.”

What did Kessler have to say about the case?

“We can’t give you a specific, ‘This will do it.’ There must be significant change,” Kessler said. “No one is bringing this type of fight, this type of lawsuit, to move from a (Grade) D-plus deal to a D deal. That is not going to happen.

“If it’s going to get resolved before (a trial), it’s going to have to be because there’s real, meaningful change that gives these teams a fair chance to compete and earn a profit and invest in the sport and grow it.”

About why Jim France being named individually, Kessler said, “To go into a charade of saying that there’s a space between NASCAR and the France family? There is no such space. How they’ve run it, where the money is really going, how it’s extracted, how the monopoly is being abused — all of that is going to be part of our discovery of the case.”

Kessler, known for landmark antitrust cases (creation of NFL free agency, equal pay for the US women’s national soccer team, and helping NCAA to evolve to an era of paid college athletes), clarified that he would request a preliminary injunction from the court to allow them to race under the new charter agreement as the litigation proceeds. The teams are also seeking treble damages for anticompetitive terms that have overruled the sport ever since the initial 2016 charter agreement.

These expanding thoughts aside, the injunction to let the drivers keep racing would take some time. The court would grant it by the end of the year. But all of it is a matter of speculation, as the teams are still at the dynastic family’s disposal.

Michael Jordan and 23XI Racing are well-connected and have enormous resources. On the other hand, Jenkins is in a tighter spot than Jordan, but his determination to fight for a fair sport is no less.

The winds of change need to come

“We’re going to come to a very good result for the race teams and the industry as a whole,” were the words of NASCAR president Steve Phelps in November 2023. “I’ve said that to our race teams and, honestly, anyone who’s listened for the last year. I believe that to be true. Would it be a fair deal? It’ll be a deal that will help the teams with their enterprise value to be more competitive on the racetrack. It’s a negotiation, but we’ll end up in a good place. I’m very confident about that.” But certainly for some, it’s not a deal that they could work around.

The 2016-2024 charter system has a glaring economic flaw. For this reason, only 8 out of the original 19 team owners who signed the original deal still remain in the sport. Furniture Row Motorsports sold its charter at the end of 2018 for $6 million, a year removed from its Cup Series championship with Martin Truex Jr.

The departure of this stellar team is proof that no path to profitability existed for teams. But while one had to depart another small team owner, Brad Keselowski sounded obligatory as he signed the charter deal. “We know we want to run NASCAR for a long time to come and signing the charter agreement is a statement to our commitment to doing just that,” Keselowski said.

Now SHR, a 70-time Cup-winning team, is also on its way out. Bob Jenkins admitted that over the 20 years he has worked in the sport, he has never turned a profit from Front Row Motorsports.

So he wants to make it a more equitable sport and also to leave something for his family. For that reason, Jenkins is highly motivated in the lawsuit process. “I have been part of this racing community for 20 years and couldn’t be more proud of the Front Row Motorsports team and our success. But the time has come for change,” Jenkins added. “We need a more competitive and fair system where teams, drivers, and sponsors can be rewarded for our collective investment by building long-term enterprise value, just like every other successful professional sports league.”

Evidently, Michael Jordan and Bob Jenkins are seeking to rock NASCAR’s core foundations. Let us wait and see how far this rolls and if the sanctioning body bends to their demands and ensures their ambitions are fulfilled.