Former NASCAR team owner casts doubt on chances 23XI, Front Row prevail over NASCAR in lawsuit

The world of NASCAR saw some explosive activity this week when 23XI and Front Row Motorsports filed an antitrust lawsuit against NASCAR. And at least one savvy business mind thinks it might be an uphill climb for the two teams against the sport’s governing body.

Former NASCAR team owner Chris Lencheski advises private equity companies on NASCAR investments and is an adjunct professor at Columbia University, and he recently weighed in on the topic at FOX Sports.

There are two main issues he identified.

The first is that only two teams refused to sign NASCAR’s charter agreement and filed the suit, while 32 of the 36 NASCAR charters were signed by other teams. That strains the case for an antitrust suit.

“I’m still trying to square how any one individual organization among a business enterprise suggests that this was unfair to them, uniquely, and not unfair to the other 32,” Lencheski said. “If 32 organizations stand up and say, ‘We all agree,’ then you might have some merit because there might be something unknown to me as a consumer I may not be aware of.”

The other major factor is that antitrust lawsuits typically must satisfy the burden of proof that the consumer is being negatively impacted by anti-competitive practices.

In this case, it’s the actual teams that are arguing anti-competitive practices are hurting. Not the NASCAR fans — perhaps the true end consumers — themselves.

It might be difficult to draw a direct line from the negative impacts to teams created by NASCAR’s practices to a worsened experience for fans. Hard data, like viewership numbers or merchandise sales, might point a different direction.

“The race consumer … is the person I’m focused on,” Lencheski said. “All of this other stuff is millionaires versus millionaires style of discourse.

“It’s about how does it affect the race consumer? And nothing in the activity, in my eyes, by either NASCAR or Jim France affects the race consumer’s ability to enjoy the sport, engage in the sport meaningfully, or address the sponsors’ needs that would have been outside of one charter versus another.”

In any case, it’s clear that there will be some seismic shifts based on how the legal proceedings unfold going forward.

It’s a new headache for NASCAR, though one that many drivers and teams would contend is necessary for the overall improvement of the sport.