23XI, Front Row race into 2025 while NASCAR lawsuit looms
2025-02-12
Category: sports

Denny Hamlin has learned a great deal about team ownership since 23XI Racing opened its doors in 2021, but he has received another crash course over the last five months. As co-owner of one of the teams suing NASCAR on antitrust allegations, Hamlin has sat in courtrooms as a player in an intense, complicated legal battle. "I kind of think of it like I think of architecture," Hamlin told FOX Sports. "I really didn't get into that until I built my house, built [the shop] AirSpeed and started getting into what architecture is all about. "And now it's obviously on the legal side. I'm like, ‘Wow, it's very interesting learning the law,’ and it's certainly intriguing to me. And certainly very, very specific and detailed." For 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports, they embark on a 2025 season that included an offseason of uncertainty as they didn’t know until mid-January that each of their three cars would at least start the season as chartered teams. The teams sought an injunction to be permitted to race as chartered teams without being subject to a clause in the new charter agreement that pretty much would release NASCAR of antitrust claims. Their first try at an injunction was denied Nov. 8 but then granted on Dec. 18.&nbsp; NASCAR asked the U.S. District Court to delay enforcement of the injunction pending appeal. When that request was denied, NASCAR was expected to ask the appeals court to delay enforcement but eventually opted not to ask the appeals court for a delay. The appeal will likely be heard on either May 9 or May 15, and a decision will come in the weeks or months following that hearing.  The district court judge is adamant that a jury trial in the case will begin in December, so that this is the only season where the injunction is enforceable. The sides could settle at any time. The drivers didn't know if they would be guaranteed a spot in every race or be on an open team — a team on which they would have to qualify their way in if there were more than 40 entries (as there will be this weekend for the Daytona 500). "I definitely was hoping to be chartered, hoping to not have to go to the Daytona 500 as more cars were getting announced [with] big names, big teams, everyone is bringing their best stuff. It's not as stressful [being chartered]," Front Row driver Todd Gilliland said. "Racing is stressful enough as it is, so it's definitely been nice, just to put my trust in our ownership and management and let those guys figure it out." The teams claim that NASCAR, because it owns the majority of the tracks and controls costs by choosing the single-source suppliers for most of the parts and pieces of the NextGen car in addition to administering the events, violates antitrust laws because the teams claim they don’t have a viable economic model to compete at the level NASCAR needs in order to have an elite series.&nbsp; NASCAR denies those claims and cites that 13 of the 15 Cup organizations having signed the new charter agreement, which includes an increase in the percentage of broadcast revenue awarded to the teams, as an example that the teams have a viable economic model.  The teams raced the final six weeks of the 2024 season with the lawsuit having been filed, and there seemed to be no signs of acrimony at the track when it came to how NASCAR treated the teams. And the teams seemed to be able to go about their business at the track. "Your performance on track is so indicative of the speed of your cars, how good is your pit crew, how well you do as a driver — not anything that really happens off the race track," Hamlin said. "I don't see it being a factor at all. "If you talk to those in our 23XI race shop, it's business as usual. We're digging ahead and trying to win a championship over there, and I'm trying to win a championship as a driver [at Joe Gibbs Racing]. Really, all the off-track stuff is for the attorneys and they're handling it." These types of high-stake lawsuits with nationally known lawyers, legal filings and media interviews often contain snark about something said or done by the opposing side, and this case has been no different.&nbsp; NASCAR attorney Chris Yates has referred to the Race Team Alliance — the consortium of the Cup team owners — as behaving like a cartel in its demands and actions during negotiations for the new charter agreement that goes into effect this year. Jeffrey Kessler, the teams’ attorney, has said, "There is no other major sport where one family has run that sport as its own personal fee stub and piggy bank the way that NASCAR has been run." Part of the rulings include requiring NASCAR to approve the transfer of Stewart-Haas Racing charters (one apiece) sold to 23XI and Front Row. While 23XI appeared committed to run three teams, it seemed Front Row might have to scale back plans.  Wouldn’t that uncertainty have at least a little impact on employees? Michael McDowell, who decided early last year that he would leave Front Row after the 2024 season for Spire Motorsports, said he didn’t see any negative on the track as far as the lawsuit. "I don't feel like it impacted anything just quite yet, but I do know that anytime you have uncertainty around the race shop — there's 120 employees at Front Row — everyone doesn't know all the behind-the-scenes of what's happening because they can't," McDowell said. "You can't explain to everybody what the behind the scenes are because of confidentiality and all these agreements. So it does make for some uncertainty. I think what has happened over the last couple weeks or last month has probably calmed all that down at those shops." New Front Row Motorsports driver Zane Smith, who was on the market after an unexpected release from Trackhouse during the summer effective the end of the 2024 season, didn’t sign until just before Christmas. "When I had spoke to [team owner] Bob [Jenkins], I kind of made it clear, I put all my eggs into his basket and so I was just kind of always waiting to hear updates," Smith said. "It was, by all means, a stressful offseason just because there's so much out of your power. "But happy it worked out." Drivers are used to ignoring outside noise. Front Row driver Noah Gragson spent most of last season with the drama of Stewart-Haas Racing shutting down. "I tried not to get my hopes leaning in one way or the other [being chartered]," Gragson said. "That stuff is all over my head.&nbsp; ... Us going racing, I didn't have any concern on that, but being chartered or uncharted definitely could have swung either way." Whether they have a lawsuit going on or not, it isn’t going to change how hard they race, said 23XI Racing driver Bubba Wallace. "Luckily enough, having a kid [this past year], I had my hands full with him," Wallace said about dealing with the offseason uncertainty. "We're glad to have our charters in place and looking forward to the season getting started." Defending regular season champion Tyler Reddick said there was "no change" from the end of last season. "I have a lot of faith in my owners, who they have, conducting the whole process," Reddick said. "And so I'm glad where we're at currently, and I'm able to just think about racing." Gilliland said there is a responsibility of the team members to do things — or not do things — so they can just think about racing. "The injunction was a big thing to get back to focusing on racing," Gilliland said. "It feels like our business is more usual. You try to sell that to the employees and keep everyone calm and focused, pushing in the right direction. "It's very easy with social media to get very turned in a direction you don't want to be. That's been kind of my objective all offseason, keep everyone pointed in the right direction." And Hamlin hopes that everyone — his people and NASCAR — keep what’s off the track, off the track. "Certainly, we’ve got to find a way to coexist," Hamlin said. "And certainly, as a driver, I’ve given a lot into this sport. As an owner, I've given a ton into this sport. "So hopefully everyone's going to be the same as they always have. Even at the end of last year, all the NASCAR executives I interacted with were great." Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass.