NASCAR accuses 23xi racing of “intentional” violation of antitrust laws, court documents show. The company is owned by six-time NBA champion Michael Jordan.
A disputed two-year negotiating period for new charter agreements led to the trial. Charters is NASCAR’s equivalent with a franchise model. Teams that have Chartre receive at least 36 seats on each race weekend.
A 30-page trial filed in the western district of North Carolina claimed that Jordan’s unit, more specifically business manager Curtis Polk, bypassed the antitrust laws by orchestrating competitive collective behavior in the recent charter agreements. POLK is listed as a defendant in the filing.
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November 9, 2024; Avondale, Arizona. 23xi racing holder Michael Jordan during the qualifying for the Cup Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway. (Gary A. Vasquez-Preferred Pictures)
Front Row Motorsports also refused to sign the new agreements presented to the teams last September shortly before the start of NASCAR’s playoffs. Restaurant contractor Bob Jenkins owns motorsport from the front row. In addition to Jordan, Polk and Driver Denny Hamlin are co -owners of 23xi Racing.
Charters were fought by the teams ahead of the 2016 season and has twice been expanded. The latest expansion is for seven years to match the current Media Law Agreement. 23xi and front row refused to sign and defend and claimed that the Nascar and France family, which owns the Stock Car series, is a monopoly.
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Nascar was defeated in round one in court. The two teams have been recognized as chartered organizations in the 2025 season as the legal dispute turns through the courts. NASCAR has also appealed a decision to get the case rejected.
“Today’s counterclaim of NASCAR is a creditless distraction and a desperate attempt to change attention away from his own illegal, monopolistic actions,” lawyer Jeffrey Kessler, representing 23xi and front row, said in a statement.
October 27, 2024; Homestead, Florida, USA; 23xi team owner Michael Jordan is watching during the straight talk Wireless 400 on the Homestead-Miami Speedway. (Jasen Vinlove-Misted Pictures)
“Nascar accepted the joint negotiations that they are now attacking. When these 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.”
The counterclaim suggested that Polk was the ring leader in the fight against the current charter proposals. NASCAR Attorney Christopher Yates told Associated Press that Polk lacks a complete understanding of NASCAR’s business model.
The Nascar Cup Series logo as drivers run on Bristol Motor Speedway. (Mark Humphrey/Pool Photo via USA Today Network)
“Curtis polk orchestrated basically, threatening a boycott of one of the qualifying races for a major event and others did not go with him,” Yates said. “He got other teams to boycott a meeting required by charter. When you have a threatened boycott of qualifying races covered with media, it’s not a good thing for other racial teams, not a good thing when you try to grow the sport.”
The qualifying race in question was last year’s pair of 150 mile duels that set the field to Daytona 500.
“I don’t think Mr. Polk really understands the sport, ”Yates added. “I think he got into it and his sight is that it should be much more like NBA or other league sports. But it’s not. No motorsport is like that. He has done a lot of things that may work in the NBA or maybe is ok in NBA, but just isn’t appropriate in NASCAR.”
