The third round of the Cup playoffs begins this weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Eight drivers remain in the playoffs. If one of them wins Sunday’s race (2:30 p.m. ET on NBC), they’ll transfer to next month’s championship race at Phoenix.
William Byron holds the final transfer spot entering the round.
The drivers below the cutline are reigning Cup champion Ryan Blaney (-4 points), Denny Hamlin (-8), Chase Elliott (-9) and Joey Logano (-11).
The 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports antitrust lawsuit continues to unfold out in the open in the form of public records each time a party files a response.
In NASCAR’s latest filing of the defense opposition to the plaintiff’s motion for expedited discovery, which would allow the teams to have NASCAR open its books prior to a judge ruling on a motion for a preliminary injunction, which if granted would allow the teams to continue running as Chartered entries until the lawsuit was completed, the sanctioning body declared the lawsuit against them as “meritless.
Plaintiffs have filed a meritless suit against NASCAR alleging baseless antitrust claims in order to obtain commercial agreements they previously rejected, and to attempt to extort more favorable contract terms,” the statement in the filing reads.
The statement then alleges that 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports seeking expedited discovery shows their “true aim,” which NASCAR says is, “to use the antitrust discovery process as a weapon.
