The lawsuit between 23XI Racing, Front Row Motorsports, and NASCAR is set for December 1st, but another legal battle between the parties has been raging in the meantime. Here's how we all got to this point:
Prior to the start of the 2025 season, the teams were granted a preliminary injunction to keep their charters while the lawsuit was ongoing in order to avoid irreparable harm. However, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia, recently overturned that decision.
On May 9th, Judge Paul Victor Niemeyer, Judge Steven Agee, and Judge Stephanie Thacker heard arguments from both NASCAR's lead attorney, Chris Yates, as well as the team's lead attorney, Jeffrey Kessler.
On June 5th, this trio of judges decided to revoke the injunction, claiming the teams cannot agree to parts of the 2025 Charter Agreement and benefit from it while suing NASCAR for the parts they disagree with. The courts told Kessler, "you can't have your cake and eat it too" before making the decision.
Request denied
The teams pushed back, attempting to appeal the decision by requesting a rehearing with the entire Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. As of Wednesday, July 9th, that request has been denied.
It's unclear what other options (if any) the teams have at this point, which means they are likely going to lose their charters within seven days. If that happens, then 23XI and FRM will each bring three cars to Dover Motor Speedway as open entries.
Along with having to qualify on time, the teams will suffer significant financial losses and certain contracts will be voided. No one knows what will become of the six charters they currently hold, including two that they purchased from Stewart-Haas Racing (with help from the courts) last year.
23XI fielded a fourth, part-time entry as an open car at Chicago last weekend with Corey Heim, and he ultimately missed the race. While DNQs are uncommon in modern NASCAR as entry lists rarely exceed the 40-car maximum, it's still an uncomfortable position to be in.
23XI's full-time entries include the No. 23 of Bubba Wallace, the No. 35 of Riley Herbst, and the No. 45 of Tyler Reddick. FRM fields the No. 4 of Noah Gragson, the No. 34 of Todd Gilliland, and the No. 38 of Zane Smith.
