23XI Racing's Denny Hamlin Slams NASCAR After Filing Antitrust Lawsuit

23XI Racing co-founder Denny Hamlin sharply criticized NASCAR and its CEO Jim France for what he described as an “unfair” use of power. Hamlin’s team, along with Front Row Motorsports, took legal action by filing an antitrust lawsuit against NASCAR in a North Carolina federal court.

In 2021, Hamlin, who has also been a Cup Series driver for Joe Gibbs Racing since 2005, teamed up with NBA icon Michael Jordan and businessman Curtis Polk to launch 23XI Racing, marking his deeper involvement in NASCAR. Although the team has enjoyed success on the track, the past two years have been marred by off-track disputes, primarily revolving around ongoing disagreements with NASCAR over a new lease agreement.

The lawsuit came after 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports refused to sign NASCAR’s final charter proposal at Atlanta Motor Speedway last month. The teams had been in negotiations for two years, with the main point of contention being NASCAR’s refusal to make the charters permanent.

NASCAR and Speedway Motorsports hold sole control of the tracks used in the series, blocking the creation of any rival competition. Additionally, NASCAR owns the Next Gen car, which requires teams to purchase parts only from NASCAR-approved suppliers at fixed prices, while also limiting the car’s use to NASCAR-sanctioned events.

Stating that NASCAR used its powers unfairly, pushing it to explore legal options, Hamlin told Racer:

“I didn’t realize until I reinvested the money I made as a driver in the sport to put on a show for Jim France and NASCAR, how unfair this whole system was.

“I didn’t think they would exercise the power that they were exercising in an unfair way, in my opinion, and we got to a tipping point where we all said, enough is enough and let’s exercise some options.”

Considering the case, antitrust and sports lawyer Jeffrey Kessler clearly stated that sports must change voluntarily, or they could be forced to transform. He explained:

“It reminds me of many sports that have had a transformative model.

“(It’s) kind of a moment where the legal style confronts them and says, either you’re going to voluntarily change or you’re going to be changed and you can either get on the bus or get run over by the bus. Nobody wanted this litigation, but NASCAR didn’t really give these teams a choice: either you submit to the bully or you fight.

“We think ultimately, NASCAR is going to have to change because that’s what the legal system is going to demand.”

He added:

“If NASCAR is willing to change, it has to be a meaningful change to create a fair system for teams.

“If they’re not willing to make that kind of deal, then they’ll take this matter before a jury and a judge, and that’s why I say they’ll be forced to change. It’s the same type of This is something I experienced with the NCAA, which had a choice to make. They could continue to fight in court and continue to lose and have the new system imposed on them or, in this case, they did. finally sat down and said: we are ready to transform the sport and we will be part of it.

“That’s the type of choice that NASCAR is going to face.”

Polk said the team aims to reach a fair deal with NASCAR without being forced into an unfavorable deal. However, when negotiations broke down, they turned to Kessler for advice, ultimately deciding to take legal action. He added:

“We knew we had no influence in this whole process.

“We were meeting with (NASCAR) about things that we thought were better for the sport, not just for the teams but for the drivers, the fans, and for NASCAR and the France family to try to grow the sport… We built this team for the sole purpose of racing at the NASCAR Cup level I can’t do anything else with these assets I’m in a situation where I’ve basically invested tens and tens of millions of dollars into a system. where only one person, basically, has the right to tell me that I won’t get anything more and that I can take it or leave it on September 6, and I knew that didn’t sound good and that’s why. I went to see Jeffrey and that’s why we are where we are today.”