23XI, FRM drop entire section of antitrust claims against NASCAR ahead of trial in contentious lawsuit

Due to a recent ruling from Judge Kenneth Bell, 23XI Racing and Front Row are dropping part of the lawsuit against NASCAR. While that sounds like it is a good thing for the sanctioning body, it’s more to do with the teams already getting a ruling regarding this matter.

23XI Racing and Front Row are suing NASCAR regarding antitrust claims. The Sherman Antitrust Act has multiple sections on antitrust violations. Since Judge Bell ruled in summary judgment that NASCAR does, in fac,t have monopoly/monopsony power in the market of “premier stock car racing.”

So, in response to that ruling, 23XI and FRM have dropped their Section 1 Sherman Antitrust Act claims against NASCAR. The upcoming trial, scheduled for December 1, will now focus on Section 2 violations.

Basically, NASCAR has been ruled to have monopsony power. That no longer has to be hashed out in the trial. Now, the teams will focus on proving that NASCAR has abused that power and acted illegally.

The NASCAR lawsuit has had twists and turns. Now, things are getting real. Trial is right around the corner. Can it be avoided? That is harder to determine. It all depends on how confident each side is as we get closer to December.

NASCAR lawsuit: Market definition laid out by judge

Judge Kenneth Bell ruled earlier this week that the market in which NASCAR operates is “premier stock car racing” within North America. That is the market in which NASCAR and the teams do business. This is notable because it differentiates NASCAR from other racing series such as F1 and IndyCar.

In creating a narrower definition of the market, the teams have garnered somewhat of an advantage going into the trial. Since they no longer have to argue that NASCAR is a monopoly/monopsony, the focus can be on the actions that NASCAR has taken to, allegedly, abuse that power and do so in an illegal manner.

In the ruling, Judge Bell noted:

“In opposing Plantiffs’ relevant market, NASCAR now contends that the same motorsports that could not supply racing teams to the Cup Series are suddenly readily available substitutes for the Cup Series teams like Plaintiffs to sell their services. Not only is it illogical, but there is no record evidence that racing teams in various motorsports can only move from NASCAR to another motorsport but not vice-versa.”