Will Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin’s 23XI Racing run as an open organization for the 2025 season? Well, there’s a huge possibility that both the owners of 23XI and FRM will have to go down this road after their request for preliminary injunction was denied by the courts. This was the second setback for the teams after they were denied a request for expedited discovery. This would’ve made their argument for the injunction strong.

Instead, now that the tides have turned against them, while the teams are going to file an appeal to this ruling, they will have to make haste. After the end of 2024, the charters owned by the two teams would be of no value, as they haven’t agreed to the new deal. Former NASCAR driver Kenny Wallace had his reservations about Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin’s move to go to court against NASCAR. And after the injunction was denied, he once again shared a similar take.

Kenny Wallace isn’t feeling optimistic about 23XI & FRM’s chances in their legal battle against NASCAR

This isn’t the first time NASCAR is facing an anti-trust lawsuit. Back in 2002, Francis Ferko, a minority shareholder of then-publicly traded SMI, held NASCAR and ISC accountable for violating the agreement to have a second Cup race at Texas Motor Speedway. But in 2004, when the suit was about to go to trial, the two parties settled.

Something similar happened when Kentucky Speedway filed a case on anti-trust grounds for lack of races at the racetrack. In this instance, the court backed NASCAR, citing that as the governing body, they can decide the venues and locations where they want to operate. So as far as legal matters go, NASCAR seems to come out on the sweet end of things one way or another. This is why Kenny Wallace’s response to the court ruling was once again to warn Michael Jordan and Co. of the potential outcome.

“I hate it for them, but I said, man, be careful. NASCAR’s got friends in Washington DC; they know what they’re up to, Richard Petty and the gang; they tried to do this stuff years ago, but the injunction failed. The judge ruled yesterday on Friday, so right now Michael Jordan, 23XI, and Front Row are O and 3. It means they have tried to go against NASCAR three times and they have lost all three times.” Wallace shared this on X.

Meanwhile, Wallace also shared a contrasting example of how RFK Racing and Brad Keselowski are looking to expand. “I’m a crack a little joke right now. NASCAR’s doing so bad that Brad Keselowski is going to start another team up. Poor NASCAR, we’re losing so much money that we’re gonna start another team up, says Brad Keselowski. Then you’ve got these guys over here suing NASCAR because they say it is a Monopoly. Listen, I understand Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan; they just want a bigger piece of the pie, and I’m not condemning it whatsoever.”

Speaking of a bigger piece of the pie, NASCAR also made a huge revelation ahead of the championship race in Phoenix.

Teams are the biggest beneficiaries of the new TV deal

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NASCAR is from its glory days when sponsorship money was in abundance and TV ratings were sky-high. Now, the teams have to scramble for multiple sponsors so that they can run their race cars throughout the years. Rising costs of racing and not enough returns have seen many teams pack their bags and leave NASCAR. Stewart Haas Racing is the prime example of how a crippling business model has led to more problems for the owners and the teams.

Even the winningest team, Hendrick Motorsports, hasn’t been profitable in the last 10 years. “I don’t think Hendrick Motorsports has made a profit in 10 years.” Jeff Gordon said this on Dale Jr. Download. One of the sticking points in the charter negotiations was that the teams wanted more split from the TV money, and it seems like they are getting that.

“I won’t go into what the money split looks like, but what I will say is that the amount of money it now puts the race teams, starting in 25, as the single largest beneficiary of our media deal. And we did that because the race teams were upside down financially.” NASCAR President Steve Phelps said in a press conference.

So this now puts Michael Jordan and his team in a precarious position. They declined to sign up for a potentially good deal and are now staring at the possibility of running as an open organization for the 2025 season.