Austin Cindric Honoring NASCAR Legend Dale Earnhardt with Darlington Throwbackh.
Led by Polk, the suit alleges that the teams “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.”
NASCAR called the teams in the suit “an illegal cartel.” The suit said Polk headed the scheme by “representing all teams in negotiations, coordinating their conduct, and threatening teams that considered leaving the conspiracy and interfering and negatively affecting NASCAR’s attempts to renew its media rights agreements.”
In a statement to The Athletic, 23XI and Front Row attorney Jeffrey Kessler called NASCAR’s counterclaim “a meritless distraction and a desperate attempt to shift attention away from its own unlawful, monopolistic actions.”
“My clients’ lawsuit has always been 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,” Kessler said. “Every major sport goes through a transition to competition when
antitrust claims are asserted, and that moment has come for NASCAR.”
23XI and Front Row, owned by restaurant entrepreneur Bob Jenkins, filed a federal lawsuit Oct. 2 against NASCAR and its CEO Jim France, son of NASCAR founder Bill France Sr., alleging the use of “anticompetitive and exclusionary practices” to “enrich themselves at the expense of the premier stock car racing teams.”
The dispute between the parties emanates from contentious negotiations across two-plus years between NASCAR and 15 teams over the extension of NASCAR’s so-called “charter system,” the sport’s version of franchises that assures the holder of a charter certain financial guarantees in addition to a starting position in all 36 races in NASCAR’s premier Cup Series. That extension was set to expire on Dec. 31, 2024.
