NASCAR Files Countersuit Against 23XI, FRM, and Curtis Polk
NASCAR has filed a countersuit against NASCAR Cup Series teams 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports, as well as Curtis Polk.
The countersuit is a continuation of a six-month legal battle between the two organizations and the sanctioning body, after officials from 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports refused to sign the 2025 Charter Agreement Less than a month later, the teams then sued NASCAR for violating antitrust laws and using monopolistic practices.
In the 30-page court document that was filed on Wednesday (March 5), NASCAR says that all three parties “embarked on a strategy to threaten, coerce, and extort NASCAR into meeting their demands for better contract and financial terms.”
NASCAR claims in their countersuit filing that 23XI Racing, Front Row Motorsports, and Curtis Polk all violated Section 1 of the Sherman Act, which states that “every contract, combination in the form of trust or otherwise, or conspiracy, in restraint of trade or commerce among the several States, or with foreign nations, is hereby declared to be illegal.”
In the filing, NASCAR says: “Beginning no later than June 2022, Counterclaim Defendants engaged in a conspiracy and agreement in unreasonable restraint of interstate trade and commerce, constituting a violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Act. Curtis Polk knowingly and actively orchestrated and participated in this illegal conspiracy, while working as a member of the TNC (Teams Negotiation Committee) on behalf of the RTA and aiding 23XI’s and Front Row’s participating in the scheme, also constituting a violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Act.”
“The conspiracy and agreement consists of an agreement to engage in concerted action among Counterclaim Defendants and others to limit competition, increase payments, and otherwise demand their preferred terms for Charter teams by agreement on the terms they would offer and agree to when collectively negotiating the 2025 Charter Agreements with NASCAR.”
“23XI, Front Row, Polk, and others agreed to a scheme to pressure NASCAR to accept their collusive terms, including by engaging in media campaigns, interfering with NASCAR’s broadcast agreement negotiations, threatening boycotts of NASCAR events, and engaging in a group boycott of a NASCAR Team Owner Council Meeting.”
Why Add Curtis Polk To The Countersuit?
Curtis Polk, one of the three co-owners of NASCAR Cup Series team 23XI Racing and a long-time business advisor of NBA superstar Michael Jordan, was specifically named in the countersuit by NASCAR.
So, why did NASCAR elect to specifically name Polk in their countersuit and nobody else? As it turns out, the sanctioning body believes that he is (allegedly) at the forefront of several illegal activities.
According to NASCAR’s filing, “Polk orchestrated a scheme to extract even more money from NASCAR and the industry for the benefit of himself, his team 23XI, and Front Row, among others. On information and belief, he did so by organizing together 23XI, Front Row, and certain members of the RTA to jointly negotiate against NASCAR, with Polk himself leading the charge to demand Counterclaim Defendants’ preferred terms for the 2025 Charter from NASCAR.”
“If NASCAR did not cede to his demands, Polk threatened to (and did) interfere with NASCAR’s broadcast negotiations and also threatened a group boycott of NASCAR events. This wasn’t merely hypothetical. In April 2023, Charter teams collectively boycotted a meeting with NASCAR that was contractually obligated pursuant to the terms of the 2016 Charter.”
NASCAR also alleges that they were told that several organizations were ready and willing to sign the 2025 Charter Agreement, “but were threatened by 23XI, Polk, and Front Row and others to not break ranks.”
To summarize the addition of Polk to the countersuit, NASCAR, in their introduction, said the following:
“Polk put this plan into action during 23XI-led negotiations on behalf of the members of the Race Team Alliance (“RTA”), seeking to extract more favorable financial and non-financial terms than in the 2016 Charter. Polk played an active role in coordinating the Counterclaim Defendants’ concerted actions, negotiating on behalf of all RTA members when engaging with NASCAR on terms such as the payments the teams would receive as part of the 2025 Charter."
“Polk sent multiple requests to NASCAR on behalf of all RTA members demanding changes to the 2025 Charter, and otherwise threatening that the RTA members would take adverse group actions if such demands were not met. Polk’s individual role was at the very center of the plot to use collusive behavior to extract more favorable commercial terms from NASCAR in the Charter negotiations."
The actions of Polk are destined to be a major talking point in NASCAR's countersuit case against Front Row Motorsports, 23XI Racing, and Polk, and could not only shape the outcome of that, but also the initial lawsuit against NASCAR.
Where Do We Go From Here?
Chris Yates, the lead attorney for NASCAR, said to members of the media on Wednesday that he doesn't anticipate other teams getting involved in the lawsuit, even though "and others" was used multiple times throughout NASCAR's filing to refer to other RTA-aligned teams.
"I would not expect other teams to get involved," said Yates. "Again, this is not a renegotiation and NASCAR has no intent of renegotiating the terms of 2025 charters. Other teams, 13 other teams representing 32 of 36 charters entered into agreements with NASCAR. NASCAR is abiding by those agreements, expects those teams to abide by those agreements."
"23XI and Front Row did not sign the agreement and instead chose to sue NASCAR, alleging baseless monopolization claims, and that's why NASCAR is suing 23XI, Front Row, and the person who orchestrated the boycotts and the conspiracy, Mr. Polk."
Throughout his brief conversation with members of the NASCAR media, Yates reiterated that the sanctioning body is not interesting in renegotiating the terms of the 2025 Charter Agreement and says that the actions of 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports, along with Curtis Polk, are unlawful.
“We think 23XI and Front Row are misusing the antitrust laws and alleging baseless monopolization claims in order to try and force a renegotiation. As I said, NASCAR has no intent and no interest in renegotiating the terms of the 2025 Charter [Agreement]. We brought counterclaims because it’s pretty ironic that the teams that are claiming that NASCAR violated the antitrust laws actually engaged in something that is per se unlawful.”
“That’s why we brought it because when this case is tried, if it’s tried in December, the jury needs to understand, it needs to see that what Mr. Polk and 23XI and Front Row did is per se illegal under the antitrust laws and that’s why we brought the counterclaims.”
As part of the impending jury trial scheduled for December, NASCAR is asking the court for an injunction that would eliminate guaranteed starting spots for charter teams should "Counterclaim Defendants persist in seeking to have the Charter Agreements declared as unlawful under the antitrust laws."
23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports Respond
Shortly after the filing made by NASCAR, Jeffrey Kessler, lead attorney for 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports, responded on behalf of the organizations.
"Today's counterclaim by NASCAR is a meritless distraction and a desperate attempt to shift attention away from its own unlawful, monopolistic actions."
"NASCAR agreed to the join negotiations that they now attack. When those joint negotiations failed, they used individual negotiations to impose their charter terms, which most of the teams decided they had no choice but to accept."
"My clients' lawsuit has always been more about transforming NASCAR into a more competitive and fair sport for the benefit of drivers, fans, sponsors and teams because of their love of the sport. Every major sport goes through a transition to competition when antitrust claims are asserted, and that moment has come for NASCAR."
"Today's baseless filing changes nothing. We are confident in the strength of our case and look forward to presenting it at trial."
Joseph Srigley covers NASCAR for TobyChristie.com, Racing America, and OnSI, and is the owner of the #SrigleyStats brand. With a higher education in the subjects of business, mathematics, and data analytics, Joseph is able to fully understand the inner workings of the sport through multiple points of perspective.