NASCAR’s throwing haymakers in Charlotte, countersuing Michael Jordan’s 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports, claiming their antitrust lawsuit could torch the charter system—revenue-sharing deals that lock in 36 of 40 Cup Series spots.
The fight’s been simmering for over two years, boiling over last September when NASCAR dropped a take-it-or-leave-it charter extension—48 hours before playoff chaos. Thirteen of 15 teams signed the seven-year deal, syncing with the media rights haul. 23XI and Front Row balked, sued, and tagged NASCAR and the France family as a monopoly strangling the sport.
They’ve already won a court round—charters secured for 2025—but NASCAR’s not backing down. Their 30-page counterclaim zeroes in on Curtis Polk, Jordan’s business guru and 23XI co-owner with Denny Hamlin, accusing him of “willfully” breaking antitrust laws.
“Curtis Polk basically orchestrated and threatened a boycott of one of the qualifying races for a major event and others did not go along with him,” NASCAR attorney Christopher Yates told the AP. “He got other teams to boycott a meeting that was required by the charter. When you have a threatened boycott of qualifying races that are covered by media that’s not a good thing for other race teams, not a good thing when you are trying to collectively grow the sport.”
The race? The 2024 Daytona 500 duels. “I don’t think Mr. Polk really understands the sport,” Yates added. “I think he came into it and his view is it should be much more like the NBA or other league sports. But it’s not. No motorsport is like that. He’s done a lot of things that might work in the NBA or might be OK in the NBA but just are not appropriate in NASCAR.”
NASCAR’s filing pulls no punches: “The undisputed reality is that it is 23XI and FRM, led by 23XI’s owner and sports agent Curtis Polk, that willfully violated the antitrust laws by orchestrating anticompetitive collective conduct in connection with the terms of the 2025 Charter Agreements. It is truly ironic that in trying to blow-up the Charter system, 23XI and FRM have sought to weaponize the antitrust laws to achieve their goals,” alleging Polk’s threats are “attempting to misuse the legal system as a last resort to secure new terms.”
Front Row’s Bob Jenkins joined 23XI’s revolt last fall. NASCAR wants their four pre-lawsuit charters back—plus two each bought for 2025 expansion—seeking an injunction to kill guaranteed spots.
“There’s a misperception out there that somehow 23XI and Front Row might achieve something that other teams can take advantage of, and that’s just not right,” Yates said. “This is not going to be a renegotiation. NASCAR has no intent of renegotiating the terms of the charter. Front Row and 23XI are threatening the charter system and its continuation, and NASCAR is fine without the charter system. The charter system was created at the request of the teams. That was before 23XI and Curtis Polk’s time, I don’t think they understand that history. But if they succeed with their lawsuit and the charter system goes away, that’s OK.”
Yates grilled 23XI and Front Row’s lawyer Jeffrey Kessler on their endgame—no straight answer. “The mere fact that the lawsuit calls the system into question, I really think 23XI and Front Row are being pretty selfish in terms of what they are trying to do, and I don’t think they are taking into account the 32 teams that have signed the charters and think it is a good deal for them,” he said. “Do some of them think they should have gotten more? I’m sure. Does NASCAR think it should have gotten more? Absolutely. But NASCAR does not see the charter system as necessary.”
Jordan’s stance? He’s fighting for all teams—big and small—to level the playing field. The 2025 charters boost revenue shares, but permanence, a key team demand, ain’t there—NASCAR can still yank charters or ditch the system. “Polk and 23XI’s other owners openly professed that they wanted to change NASCAR’s economic model by demanding more money for the teams from NASCAR media revenues, instead of teams competing against each other,” Yates said. “However, 23XI and FRM did not merely reject the terms of the 2025 Charters. Rather, those teams embarked on a strategy to threaten, coerce, and extort NASCAR into meeting their demands for better contract and financial terms.”
