NASCAR Commissioner Steve Phelps 'Not Sure' Why 23XI, FRM Chose to Sue

Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

It’s one of the biggest off-track topics in NASCAR, right now: the antitrust lawsuit that is currently ongoing between the sanctioning body and a pair of NASCAR Cup Series teams, 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports.

The two organizations chose to withhold their signature from NASCAR’s ‘final offer’ in Charter Agreement negotiations last September, and instead, chose to bring the sport (and NASCAR’s CEO, Jim France) to court over the last nine months.

During their time in the NASCAR Cup Series, 23XI Racing (formed in 2021) and Front Row Motorsports (formed in 2004) have earned a combined 12 wins at NASCAR’s top-level. 23XI is owned by NBA superstar Michael Jordan and Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin. FRM is owned by successful businessman Bob Jenkins.

These two teams believe that NASCAR is using monopolistic practices in their dealings.

That legal battle has been ongoing for the better part of a year, with a preliminary injunction sought after to let both 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports run their combined six chartered entries throughout the duration of the ongoing lawsuit.

Originally, the court granted that preliminary injunction to 23XI and FRM, but after an appeal was requested by NASCAR, a different judge presiding over the injunction hearing decided that said injunction would be reversed.

As things stand, 23XI and FRM are working on getting that appeal re-heard (no word on whether it will be, as of yet). Otherwise, both teams could find themselves without NASCAR Cup Series charters in the middle of the 2025 NASCAR campaign, which continues non-stop through the first week of November.

For one of the first time since the lawsuit was brought against NASCAR last September, a representative from the sanctioning body, Steve Phelps, who is also the newly appointed Commissioner for NASCAR, talked to CNBC Sport’s Brian Sullivan about the suit.

“Listen, I’m not sure why [23XI Racing] decided to bring a suit, and there’s another team called [Front Row Motorsports] that also partnered with them on this suit,” Phelps said. “It’s an antitrust case. We don’t believe it’s an antitrust case, we believe it’s a contractual issue.”

The main allegation that NASCAR has been fighting in this lawsuit, is that they are using monopolistic practices in their business dealings, specifically when it comes to the sanctioning body attempting to negotiate with the teams in the newest iteration of the Charter Agreement.

Phelps, as would be expected, passionately disagrees with that sentiment, and offered an explicit example as to how there is no way the sanctioning body could be acting in a manner that is considered monopolistic.

“What I would say on that, and the viewers I think will get this,” Phelps said. “There was a significant increase in revenue that the teams got – so over the period of time, I think that the increase we offered the team contract to contract was 73%. That’s a significant increase.”

“In my opinion, if you’re a monopolist, and you have that monopolist behavior, you’re not going to increase by 73%, you’re actually going to go backwards, because you have that ability to do it. For us, that’s not what we wanted to do, because we need healthy race teams. Healthy race teams put on better racing. I hear from fans, ‘I don’t really care about all this’, but you should care. You should care that your race teams are healthy, because if they’re healthy, it’s just a better experience for a race fan.”

As far as what happens next in this lawsuit, Phelps, like the rest of the industry, isn’t exactly sure.

“So, what’s going to happen here? We’re obviously defending ourselves vigorously. Two options: you either settle or you go to trial,” Phelps said. “As I sit here, I have no idea what is going to happen. I would like to have it behind us.”

The path forward is shaky for NASCAR, 23XI Racing, and Front Row Motorsports, and littered with a potential array of unknown variables. Ultimately, what comes of this lawsuit, no matter which way things end up, will have a substantial impact on the future of the sport.