NASCAR accuses 23XI Racing, Front Row of trying to 'derail' testimony of Rick Hendrick, Roger Penske

We have the newest dispute in the NASCAR lawsuit as 23XI Racing and Front Row seek to open the scope with two witnesses. Rick Hendrick and Roger Penske are on the witness list for the sanctioning body in its upcoming defense at trial. But that might be complicated now.

Last week, Rick Hendrick and Roger Penske asked the court to prevent them from being cross-examined and deposed by the Plaintiffs, 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports. NASCAR wants the testimony to be limited to the declarations that both team owners wrote a few weeks ago.

Clearly, the teams want the scope to be more than that. This is an antitrust lawsuit about the alleged anticompetitive business practices of NASCAR. Hendrick and Penske are two of the most storied teams in the sport. They work closely with NASCAR. Could they also have some preferred relationship over other teams within the sport? Perhaps that’s what 23XI and FRM want to find out.

“Plaintiffs should not be able to derail the testimony of Messrs. Hendrick and Penske based on eleventh-hour demands for new information,” NASCAR argued in a filing today. “Plaintiffs have repeatedly touted both in this litigation and publicly that the declarations of Messrs. Penske and Hendrick supported Plaintiffs’ case. … So, Plaintiffs have no basis to complain about the admission of that testimony at trial.

“And Plaintiffs never moved the Court to require Team Penske, Hendrick Motorsports, or any other team to produce the detailed financial information that Plaintiffs apparently seek to extract from these witnesses in deposition and at trial.”

NASCAR clearly wants this testimony limited. It remains to be seen if they will be successful with this move.

NASCAR argues that teams waited too long to depose witnesses

When it comes to Rick Hendrick and Roger Penske testifying, NASCAR has another argument. On September 10, 2025, the two sides had to file disclosures that included witness lists. Hendrick and Penske, according to NASCAR, were included.

“NASCAR’s September 10, 2025 amended disclosures included both Mr. Hendrick and Mr. Penske, leaving nearly three weeks for Plaintiffs to depose them under the Case Management Plan,” NASCAR argued. “… Plaintiffs never asked for a deposition. Nor did they object to the timing of NASCAR’s amended disclosure. Nor did they move to strike. Instead, they strategically chose to sit on their hands and wait until less than four weeks before trial. Had they moved or said anything at the time of the disclosure, there would have been ample time to take the depositions within the discovery period.”

So, this might come down to deadlines, particularly over discovery. 23XI Racing and Front Row want to depose both Hendrick and Penske. In that line of questioning, the Plaintiffs are hoping to expand the scope far beyond the written declarations already submitted.