23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports set the motorsports world ablaze on Wednesday, as they filed an anti-trust lawsuit against NASCAR in federal court in North Carolina, the two teams announced in a joint statement.

The move continued a saga that’s been at-play since the two teams declined to sign the new charter agreement, which is set to be implemented following the 2024 campaign. Immediately, questions arose as to whether 23XI and FRM would be able to race next season after filing their lawsuit, and FOX’s Bob Pockrass cleared up any concerns.

“One of the new 2025 charter provisions is that the teams release NASCAR of antitrust claims. As part of the lawsuit, 23XI and Front Row are asking for a preliminary injunction that will allow them to compete as chartered teams in 2025 while still proceeding with the lawsuit,” Pockrass posted on X.

Evidently, 23XI and FRM are hoping to be granted a preliminary injunction that will allow them to compete in 2025, regardless of them not signing the charter agreement. That would allow them to move forward on the track, while continuing to fight NASCAR off of it.

In the lawsuit filed on Wednesday, the two teams accused NASCAR and its CEO Jim France of “unlawful monopolization of premier stock car racing in order to enrich themselves at the expense of the premier stock car racing teams.”

“The France family and NASCAR are monopolistic bullies,” the lawsuit states, via Jeff Gluck of The Athletic. “And bullies will continue to impose their will to hurt others until their targets stand up and refuse to be victims. That moment has now arrived.”

Moreover, the lawsuit stems from 23XI and Front Row opting not to sign NASCAR’s final charter proposal at Atlanta Motor Speedway last month. Teams had been negotiating an extension of the original 2016 charter agreement for the last two years ahead of its expiration on Dec. 31. Teams made demands such as making charters permanent, which NASCAR refused to include in its proposals.

Under the current model, charters are not permanent franchises like the setup in other professional sporting leagues. Teams can lose their charters due to poor performance on the racetrack or failing to field their cars week in and week out. As a result, most race teams lose money on a yearly basis.

The final proposal came in at 6 p.m. ET on Friday, Sept. 6. NASCAR gave teams a six-hour deadline to sign, threatening to “eliminate the charter system altogether for 2025 and beyond” if they did not. 23XI and Front Row were the two holdouts among the 15 Cup Series teams.

It remains to be seen whether 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports are granted their preliminary injunction, but it’s evident their fight against NASCAR is far from over, as they hope to change the way business is done in the sport.

On3’s Nick Geddes contributed to this article.

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