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23XI, FRM lawsuit: Staggering figure Michael Jordan's team paid to NASCAR last year revealed

JHby: Jonathan Howard12/03/25Jondean25

The 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports lawsuit against NASCAR continues today as the two sides go back and forth in court. Part of the revelations today included the amount of money that 23XI has paid to NASCAR in the last year.

23XI Racing filed this antitrust lawsuit claiming that NASCAR has been violating the law to maintain its monopoly on premier stock car racing. There are a lot of finances involved in this case. Today, it was revealed that 23XI paid almost $1 million in fees to NASCAR in the 2024 season.

Adam Stern of Sports Business Journal posted the exhibit on Twitter/X. It shows fees for Pre-License Drug Testing, NASCAR Licenses, Entry Fees, NASCAR Penalties, Internet & Data Analytics, and SMT Analytics. In total, 23XI paid NASCAR $994,569.00.

23XI Racing and Front Row filed the lawsuit over alleged antitrust violations. The story that the teams want to paint is one that shows NASCAR as a restrictive sanctioning body that represses the teams’ ability to flourish competitively and financially through illegal means.

Teams have access to everyone else’s SMT Data in the Cup Series. You can see the lines everybody runs, throttle control, brakes, and steering. For the price of $168,357 for internet and data and an additional $42,466 for SMT Analytics specifically, is a hefty price tag. Many drivers and teams have floated the idea of taking that access away and limiting it. However, that’s not why the teams brought up these numbers in this trial.

Is this a lot of money? Yes, but that is all relative. The teams are showing a lot of big numbers money-wise, and it might be enough to shock the jury. Or, it might not. NASCAR will have plenty of opportunities to counter the teams’ arguments.

23XI Racing lawsuit: Scott Prime pressed on charters

Jeffrey Kessler, attorney for 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports, questioned Scott Prime about a number of topics. The teams are trying to build a story that NASCAR has restricted competition in the market of premier stock car racing. Kessler questioned Prime about alleged non-competes, avoiding the potential of an upstart series, and regarding the tracks that NASCAR owns and has agreements with.

Prime is a witness for 23XI and FRM. He is an “adverse witness.” He works for NASCAR, the defendant in this trial. So, his interests in this case are against those of the teams, but there is a strategy to calling someone up who may appear adversarial to your cause. Direct and cross-examination are two different ways of pulling information out of a witness. The teams clearly felt it best that they deliver the direct questions to Prime in this trial.

Jeffrey Kessler asked about the provision against team owners (of at least 10% stake) from racing in competing stock car racing series in the United States, or even owning a stake in a competing series. “You agree this is a non-compete, right?” Kessler said, via Joseph Srigley and Toby Christie of Racing America.

“A narrow one, yes,” Prime replied. “Why is that called Goodwill? What’s goodwill about keeping a team from running other series?” the attorney asked in return