Fellow team owners Michael Jordan are heading to federal court for a hearing in the antitrust battle against NASCAR

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Retired NBA great Michael Jordan and his co-owners of two NASCAR teams went to federal court Monday for a hearing in their antitrust battle against the stock car series for what they say is an unfair business model.

23XI Racing, owned by Jordan and three-time Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin, and Front Row Motorsports, owned by restaurant entrepreneur Bob Jenkins, NASCAR and Chairman Jim France Indicted in October after months of tense negotiations over NASCAR’s charter system, which is essentially a franchise model that includes revenue sharing.

The two teams say NASCAR gave all Cup Series teams a last-minute, take-it-or-leave-it offer in September that both 23XI and Front Row declined to sign. The owners claim the charter system limits competition by unfairly tying teams to the series. his tracks and its suppliers, and they called the French family and NASCAR “monopolistic bullies.”

The two teams are represented by Jeffrey Kessler, the nation’s top antitrust lawyer, who has repeatedly argued that they are only asking for a temporary injunction that would allow them to compete without the clause that would prevent their pending lawsuit.

He said NASCAR has since rescinded the charter agreements offered to 23XI and FRM in September.

“We are not disputing the entire charter agreement. We want a return to the status quo,” Kessler said. “We are not looking for a seven to fourteen year argument. Let’s operate under the terms they offered for the duration of the case and race under the charter conditions for the duration of the case.”

Kessler said NASCAR is challenging the order because NASCAR does not believe it has a winnable case.

The battle comes as NASCAR heads into its championship weekend, with the title-deciding race on Sunday in Phoenix, with 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick one of four drivers who could win.

After a hearing that lasted nearly two hours, U.S. District Judge Frank D. Whitney said he would have a decision Friday on 23XI and FRM’s request for a preliminary injunction to be recognized as chartered teams in 2025 — when cars take to the track in Phoenix to begin preparations for the title-deciding race.

Jordan listened to Kessler’s arguments from the front row of the gallery and leaned forward attentively throughout NASCAR’s case in court.

I After a brief comment outside the courtJordan said he didn’t think the legal battle would detract from 23XI’s attempt to win the championship with Reddick.

‘No, I have been in situations of inequality. I think the race team is going to focus on what they have to do this weekend, what I expect from them,” said Jordan. “I think Jeffrey did an incredible job today and I think I put all my cards on the table. I’m looking forward to winning a championship this weekend.”

At issue in court is 23XI and FRM’s request to be released from a clause in the NASCAR agreement that prohibits teams from suing the sanctioning body. Both teams have said they will operate as “open” teams in 2025 if they do not receive the injunction, but even that agreement prevents them from suing NASCAR.

In addition, an “open” team is not guaranteed a spot in the weekly 40-car field, does not receive the same amount of revenue as chartered teams, and its drivers and sponsors may leave because they are associated with unprotected chartered teams.

The charter system began in 2016 and has now been extended twice, with the agreements signed by 13 organizations running from 2025 through 2031.

Christopher Yates, of Latham & Watkins LLP, represented NASCAR and France. He said teams outside of NASCAR have plenty of options.

“Mr. Jordan had a choice: They could invest in NASCAR, IndyCar, buy another NBA team,” Yates said, “but they chose to invest in NASCAR.”

Yates also disputed the idea that the 13 teams that signed the charter agreements 48 hours before the playoffs started in September did so under duress, but he used slides with cherry-picked quotes that left out the parts where owners admitted to reporters that NASCAR threatened to abandon the entire halt the charter process if it does not receive signed agreements within a very short time.

“We’re talking about Roger Penske, Rick Hendrick and Joe Gibbs – people who don’t let themselves be suppressed,” Yates said.

Kessler called Yates’ synopsis a “complete distortion” of the facts.

Kessler also argued that the terms of the new charters could potentially put the two teams out of business and cause Reddick to leave 23XI even if he wins the championship on Sunday.

“We have a potential champion who would be free to leave and we would never get him back,” Kessler said. “This could put these teams out of business. You can’t go to a stock car team and ask them to become a Formula 1 team.”

Whitney last week denied an expedited discovery request from 23XI and Front Row for NASCAR to produce documents ahead of Monday’s preliminary hearing.

“While the proposed discovery requests may help plaintiffs demonstrate success on the merits, they are not sufficiently specific,” Whitney wrote.

23XI’s Jordan, Hamlin and Curtis Polk were joined by Jenkins and Front Row president Jerry Freeze for the hearing, which is crucial to how next season will play out for the two teams.

The teams argue that NASCAR would not be harmed by the injunction because the series planned to have 36 chartered teams and allow them to compete as chartered teams while continuing the lawsuit maintained the status quo.

NASCAR now says it plans to run 32 chartered teams and eight open cars (instead of four) in the 40-car field each week. Front Row and 23XI currently each have two charters that they have not signed, and both have agreements with Stewart-Haas Racing to purchase one charter each.

Those deals have not yet closed and NASCAR has indicated it will not recognize the sales. NASCAR claims it is only honoring the 32 charter agreements signed in September.

NASCAR claims the two teams do not meet the requirements for an injunction because they can still compete as open teams and any damages they suffer if they win the case can be financially covered.

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