23XI and Front Row Motorsports dealt huge blow by judge as charter removal confirmed

The judge ruling over the ongoing 23XI Racing/Front Row Motorsports case against NASCAR has insisted that the teams must run as open entires at Dover this weekend.

23XI and FRM had applied for a temporary restraining order to continue to race as charter teams after that status was stripped from them in a previous ruling, which was denied on Thursday.

U.S. District Court judge Kenneth D. Bell turned down the request on the basis that the teams didn't demonstrate that they would suffer irreparable harm thanks to running as open entries this weekend, with the field size of under 40 cars meaning there's no risk of any drivers not qualifying.

The teams have also applied for another preliminary injunction to keep themselves in charter status, but no ruling has yet been made on that.

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NASCAR have told the court that it will not sell the charters nominally assigned to the teams before that preliminary injunction ruling is made, after the teams told the court that such a sale would effectively end their existence in the sport.

However, Bell rejected the idea that 23XI could lose Tyler Reddick as a driver if the team had to drive as an open entry at Dover, saying there was no evidence that the No. 45 driver had any intention of making a stunning late-season switch.

He said: "While Plaintiffs’ drivers could have realistically terminated their contracts with Plaintiffs and/or been lured away by other teams, that prospect (although theoretically still conceivable) appears unlikely at this late stage of the season, and Plaintiffs have not offered evidence that any drivers are intending to do so in the next two weeks."

The overarching case, in which this is just a relatively minor squabble – albeit a potentially consequential one – is scheduled to begin Dec. 1.

23XI and FRM attorney Jeffrey Kessler released a statement on Thursday evening reading: “We are disappointed that the court declined to grant 23XI and Front Row Motorsports a temporary restraining order to allow the teams to continue racing as chartered teams. We remain confident that our motion for a preliminary injunction is legally warranted and necessary, and we look forward to the court’s full review. "The court made it clear it is only denying the temporary restraining order because NASCAR has agreed to preserve our charters until the preliminary injunction can be decided and because we are assured of qualifying all our cars the next two weeks so that there will be no irreparable harm before the preliminary injunction can be fully briefed and ruled upon. "We made the decision to bring this lawsuit to challenge NASCAR’s monopolistic practices and bullying tactics, and we are not going to let them push our teams – or others – out of the sport that they love. We are confident in the merits of our case and the teams remain focused on competing this weekend and continuing their playoff push.”

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