NASCAR allows 23XI, Front Row to race as open teams without key clause
MOORESVILLE, N.C. — 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports can now race as open NASCAR Cup Series teams in 2025 while their lawsuit against NASCAR continues.
According to the teams, NASCAR barred teams from suing them over anticompetitive/antitrust claims, if they signed the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series open team agreement. However, the two teams stated Saturday that NASCAR lifted that clause.
“[This] will allow 23XI and Front Row Motorsports to race as open teams in 2025,” attorney Jeffrey Kessler stated on behalf of the teams.
Kessler is representing the teams in their antitrust lawsuit against NASCAR. The center point of the lawsuit is the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series charter agreement allegedly containing the aforementioned clause that the sanctioning body removed from the open team agreement. The two teams sought an injunction to compete under the charter agreement next season without being bound to that clause.
While a judge denied the injunction, stating their claims of irreparable harm were only speculative, the ruling still left the door open for teams to refile their motion with new evidence. The judge also fast-tracked the case.
The 2025 Daytona 500 is only 92 days away. The 2025 Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium is 78 days away.
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Jonathan Fjeld View All
Jonathan Fjeld is the co-owner of the The Racing Experts, LLC. He has been with TRE since 2010.
A Twin Valley, MN, native, Fjeld became a motorsports fan at just three years old (first race was the 2002 Pennsylvania 500). He worked as a contributor and writer for TRE from 2010-18. Since then, he has stepped up and covered 24 NASCAR race weekends and taken on a larger role with TRE. He became the co-owner and managing editor in 2023 and has guided the site to massive growth in that time.
Fjeld has covered a wide array of stories and moments over the years, including Kevin Harvick's final Cup Series season, the first NASCAR national series disqualification in over 50 years, Shane van Gisbergen's stunning win in Chicago and the first Cup Series race at Road America in 66 years – as well as up-and-coming drivers' stories and stories from inside the sport, like the tech it takes for Hendrick Motorsports to remain a top-tier team.
Currently, he resides in Albuquerque, N.M., where he works for KOB 4, an NBC station. He works as a digital producer and does on-air reports. He loves spending time with friends and family, playing and listening to music, exploring new places, being outdoors, reading books and writing among other activities. You can email him at fjeldjonathan@gmail.com