Michael Jordan NASCAR lawsuit takes fresh twist as attorney slams 'conspiracy' claim

23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports have called NASCAR's antitrust lawsuit against them 'an act of desperation', asking for it to be dismissed.

NASCAR have filed a countersuit against the two teams, with specific allegations that Jordan business manager Curtis Polk organized anticompetitive collective action based around the sport's charter agreements.

23XI and Front Row were the only two teams out of 15 in the sport who refused to put pen to paper on the new charter agreements, kicking off a lengthy legal action which is unlikely to wrap up any time soon.

NASCAR and 23XI Racing lawsuit continues

In their filing this week, 23XI and Front Row claim: “NASCAR is using the counterclaim to engage in litigation gamesmanship, with the transparent objective of intimidating the other racing teams by threatening them with severe consequences if they support Plaintiffs’ challenge to the unlawful NASCAR monopoly."

They also request that the NASCAR countersuit be dismissed because it “fails at the threshold because it does not allege facts plausibly showing a contract, combination or conspiracy in restraint of trade.

“The counterclaim allegations instead show each racing team individually determining whether or not to agree to NASCAR’s demands through individual negotiations — the opposite of a conspiracy.”

The teams continue: “None of NASCAR’s factual claims fit into the very narrow categories of blatantly anti-competitive agreements that courts summarily condemn as per se unlawful."

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