Despite the NASCAR Cup Series being in such a decisive state, what is stealing all the attention is the NASCAR lawsuit. 23XI Racing owned by Michael Jordan and NASCAR driver, Denny Hamlin, as well as Front Row Motorsports on October 2nd filed an anti-trust lawsuit against NASCAR. This came after NASCAR didn’t fulfill their demands and changes proposed in the new charter agreement.

The teams in the lawsuit have accused the racing organization of maintaining an unfair monopoly in premier stock car racing because NASCAR owns the majority of tracks, forces teams to buy parts from their suppliers, and restricts them from participating in other racing series. According to the teams, the revenue distribution and the restrictive nature of the new agreement are unjust. While the matter is in court, what’s latest on the subject is that Dale Earhardt Jr has finally opined on the matter.

Dale Earnhardt Jr breaks silence on the NASCAR Lawsuit drama

Many people in the NASCAR community probably consider Dale Jr. the biggest voice in NASCAR owing to the popularity of the Earnhardt family name. Everyone in the NASCAR community eagerly waits to hear Jr.’s interesting take on all NASCAR-related dramatic incidents. Well, Dale Jr. has only recently voiced his thoughts on the matter since the veteran was out on vacation. The list is of things that have happened in his absence, from Alex Bowman’s disqualification to the NASCAR lawsuit.

In the most recent episode of the Dale Jr Download,  Jr backed the teams’ decision as he found it fair. He said, “I feel like that it is perfectly great and okay and fair for the teams to file the suit. If they feel like that they deserve more or it may not be just about more money per charter. If they feel you know, I believe that you know 23XI wants to own those charters outright right.” 

The case and the teams’ claims have led to NASCAR getting a lot of backlash. Dale Earnhardt Jr did not like the NASCAR name getting dragged into the mud. He said, “That’s unfortunate right to see NASCAR be talked about in a negative way. Because listen I’ll criticize them all day long. I have you know been very critical about them on our show here. And I will criticize them going forward when I feel like I don’t agree with a call or a decision they’re making in the sport. But it’s kind of like you’re I this that’s my family, they have been everything that I’ve known in that garage, that industry, everyone in it.”

Dale Jr. here cannot pick sides as at the core he is a driver and a team owner and secondly, NASCAR is their family legacy. Like the NASCAR owners, the France Family, Earnhardts share the same popularity. Started by the legendary Dale Earnhardt Sr, the Earnhardt family has an extensive history in the sport. Earnhardt Sr.’s titles with the #3 car became immortal in the racing community, and the tragic accident that led to his untimely passing brought a number of safety measures to the sport. Following in his father’s footsteps, Dale Earnhardt Jr. also won championships, even going on to establish JR Motorsports to give young talent a chance to compete in the sport.

However, the veteran remaining neutral believes that matters will end peacefully with no party losing or even winning big. “I think it’s going to cost everybody just a little bit to get through it, but I think NASCAR absolutely survives it. And I feel like to be quite honest with you 23XI will come out of it satisfied as well. I don’t know what that looks like, but I don’t believe that there’ll be any big winners. But I don’t think anybody will have you know suffer any major losses in this either.” Jr. added. Looking at how another prominent lawsuit in American sports, the NCAA anti-trust lawsuit turned out, despite the NCAA paying billions as a result of the verdict, continues to be a major force in American football.

This is a big claim being made by the veteran as how 23XI has accused NASCAR, things might get heated. After all, it is one of the world’s greatest athletes versus one of motorsport’s biggest and older racing series. Michael Jordon, on the matter, has said, “I think everybody should have an opportunity to be successful in any business. My voice is saying that it hasn’t been happening. Hopefully, we [on both sides] can come to our senses and figure out something that can make sense for everybody.” Whereas NASCAR has refused to release a statement as of yet.

Peaceful or unpeaceful, no matter who wins and loses, the battle is going to be intense. And not just intense but also a long one, since so much is at stake. There are a lot of questions. If NASCAR wins, what happens to the charter of 23XI and FRM? If 23XI and FRM win, NASCAR would probably have to revise the charter agreement for all the teams, which might cost them a lot.

Dale Earhardt Jr thinks Michael Jordan and Co. will have to wait a while for the verdict

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Most recently on Oct 9, 23XI and Front Row filed a motion on October 9th. The preliminary injunction was to allow them to race in 2025 as chartered teams. Despite their refusal to sign the charter agreement, which was signed on Sept. 6 by the 13 other Cup organizations. The teams are demanding an injunction since they believe big sponsors will part ways with them without having a charter. The charter enables a team to participate in every race and earn money out of the race purse. According to the team’s court fillings – the Daytona 500 alone is worth about 15% of the entire season’s purse.

NASCAR has filed against this motion, calling it a breach of contract rather than that of trust. Although a hearing about the injunction was on October 16th, Hurricane Milton caused the postponement to November 4th. This means the case will most likely continue in the postseason. “This is something I’m hearing may drag out for quite sometime, could take a year or two. I know there are some levers that get pulled really quickly,” Dale Jr predicted the longevity of the case.

However, Jr. is not very happy about it and wants the case to conclude sooner. Further in the conversation, he said, “You know it is unfortunate though, but yeah it’s going to be something that we’re all going to be paying attention to and commenting on and talking about for a long time. We’d love this to get done and get wrapped up and be out of our lives tomorrow, but that is not the case.” 

What do you think is going to happen? Let us know in the comments below.