NASCAR and its CEO, Jim France, have filed motions to dismiss the antitrust lawsuit brought against them earlier this fall by 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports. The motion, filed on December 2, outlines multiple reasons why NASCAR believes the lawsuit is without merit, requesting that the court dismiss the case immediately.
NASCAR argues that most of the claims made by the plaintiffs are barred by the statute of limitations and laches, as they relate to events that occurred more than four years ago. This includes the acquisition of ARCA, the purchase of ISC, the adoption of NextGen car requirements, NASCAR’s exclusivity agreements with racetracks, and the 2016 Charter provisions. “Plaintiffs lack antitrust standing to sustain their challenges to the 2025 Charter’s release of claims and noncompete provisions, which are their only claims that arguably fall within the statute of limitations, because Plaintiffs did not sign the Charters and their failure to secure preferred contractual terms is not antitrust injury.”
The sanctioning body further points out that the teams have proposed a post-investment market definition rather than one based on pre-investment, which is not supported by established law. Plaintiffs cannot claim to be locked into a market knowing that doing so would involve sunk costs and other risks.
NASCAR also claims that 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports have not demonstrated exclusionary conduct, as the sanctioning body has not refused to engage with the plaintiffs. Furthermore, they argue that the plaintiffs have failed to provide facts showing that any of the contested Charter provisions reduce competition. NASCAR’s memorandum supporting the motion to dismiss states, “For instance, Plaintiffs concede the Charters are ‘worth millions of dollars’ and NASCAR increased the revenues available to teams after the last round of negotiations. This behavior is the exact opposite of what one would expect from a monopsonist; if NASCAR truly had market power, it would be decreasing its demand for Plaintiffs’ services and lowering the amount by which it compensates them.”
In a separate filing regarding Jim France, NASCAR’s CEO, the plaintiffs are accused of improperly involving him in the lawsuit. “Plaintiffs improperly seek to drag NASCAR’s CEO, Mr. James (‘Jim’) France, into a legal battle motivated by Plaintiffs’ inability to secure all their preferred contractual terms from NASCAR during the negotiations over the 2025 Charter,” the filing states. It continues, “Plaintiffs’ antitrust claims against Mr. France are just as baseless as their claims against NASCAR and should be dismissed for the same reason that the claims against NASCAR should be dismissed. They also fail because Plaintiffs have not provided any factual allegations showing Mr. France ‘actively and knowingly engaged’ in the alleged anticompetitive scheme. The absence of such allegations is fatal and the claims against him should accordingly be dismissed.”
At this stage, 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports have submitted a second request for a preliminary injunction, seeking to have the court allow them to race under the 2025 Charter Agreement while the lawsuit is ongoing. NASCAR, however, is opposed to this request.
23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports have until December 16 to respond to NASCAR’s motion to dismiss.
