{"id":348328,"date":"2025-12-16T06:20:32","date_gmt":"2025-12-16T06:20:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/348328\/"},"modified":"2025-12-16T06:20:32","modified_gmt":"2025-12-16T06:20:32","slug":"what-were-seeing-and-hearing-about-nascars-settlement-with-23xi-front-row","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/348328\/","title":{"rendered":"What we\u2019re seeing and hearing about NASCAR\u2019s settlement with 23XI, Front Row"},"content":{"rendered":"

NASCAR and the two teams suing it, Front Row Motorsports and Michael Jordan\u2019s 23XI Racing, agreed to a settlement Thursday<\/a> at the start of what would\u2019ve been the ninth day of the antitrust trial<\/a> that has engulfed the sport and threatened its future.<\/p>\n

Full terms are still not known, and details continue to trickle out. As our Jordan Bianchi and Jeff Gluck gather more from the scene, we\u2019ll be updating here with more about the landmark deal. Here\u2019s what you should know.<\/p>\n

The terms we know<\/p>\n

The teams will get their charters back.\u00a0Previously lost during the litigation,\u00a0The Athletic confirmed that each team will get back the three charters it lost as part of the litigation.<\/p>\n

There will be some form of evergreen charters. The charter system \u2014 which operates like franchises in other sports and guarantees teams certain revenues \u2014 was the central issue in the dispute. Teams were seeking permanent guarantees of ownership, while NASCAR chairman and CEO Jim France refused to offer it, saying in court he wasn\u2019t comfortable with agreements that \u201cgo on forever.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jordan Bianchi has more on what the teams are getting<\/a> in the settlement.<\/p>\n

Michael Jordan\u2019s reaction<\/p>\n

As the parties waited for the final word on the documents, Jordan sat with a venti holiday Starbucks cup \u2014 with a barista-scribbled \u201cThank you!\u201d on the side \u2014 and looked toward the front of the courtroom.<\/p>\n

He then peered to the side at two reporters and responded with a smirk.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat are you smiling at?\u201d he teased.<\/p>\n

Later, outside the courthouse, Jordan spoke with reporters.<\/p>\n

\u201cLike two competitors, obviously, we\u2019re trying to get as much done in each other\u2019s favor,\u201d he said of the negotiations. \u201cBut I think, collectively, and I don\u2019t think Jim was any opposite of me, was the fans (have) always been the best solution to this whole process and to the sport itself. And I\u2019ve said this from Day 1: Only way this sport is going to grow is we have to find some synergy between the two entities, and I think we\u2019ve gotten to that point. Unfortunately, it took 16 months to get here, but I think, level heads has got us to this point to where we can actually work together and grow this sport. I\u2019m very proud about that. And I think Jim feels the same.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jim France speaks<\/p>\n

France spoke right after Jordan\u2019s comments.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do feel the same,\u201d France said. \u201cWe can get back to focusing on what we really love, and that\u2019s racing \u2014 we spent a lot of time not really focused on that as much as we need to be. So I feel like we\u2019ve made a very good decision here together and we have a big opportunity to continue growing the sport. We\u2019ve got Denny Hamlin getting ready to go for a championship, and we need to focus on what we all love.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bob Jenkins\u2019 reaction<\/p>\n

Jenkins, the owner of Front Row Motorsports, had a simple reply when reached for comment by\u00a0The Athletic.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re ready to go racing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Judge applauds the decision<\/p>\n

The presiding judge, Kenneth D. Bell, had warned that this trial could rip the sport. He was quick to offer praise of the agreement.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is going to be great for the entity NASCAR, the industry NASCAR, the teams, the drivers, and as you have so often said yourselves, ultimately the fans,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Hamlin and France share an embrace<\/p>\n

Denny Hamlin, co-owner of 23XI Racing and driver for Joe Gibbs Racing, opened testimony last week with a charged account of how he felt Jim France, NASCAR\u2019s chairman and CEO and co-defendant in the lawsuit, had ignored his concerns about the sport\u2019s business model. Hamlin said he was \u201cvery, very discouraged\u201d by a 2023 meeting between the two.<\/p>\n

On Thursday, they hugged outside the courtroom after the news.<\/p>\n

A frantic two hours in court<\/p>\n

Jeff Gluck has the story<\/a> of the final moments before NASCAR\u2019s trial of the century came to a conclusion, capped by one final quip at Jeffrey Kessler, the attorney for 23XI and Front Row.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow much longer do you need?\u201d Bell asked. \u201cYou said an hour and now \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re literally typing a few things in (to the agreement,\u201d Kessler said. \u201cThere are no more open items.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll stay sitting here to motivate you,\u201d Bell replied.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NASCAR and the two teams suing it, Front Row Motorsports and Michael Jordan\u2019s 23XI Racing, agreed to a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":348329,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[446],"tags":[49,48,12716,634,82],"class_list":["post-348328","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nascar","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-motorsports","tag-nascar","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/348328","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=348328"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/348328\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/348329"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=348328"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=348328"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=348328"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}