NASCAR fires shot at Michael Jordan in legal filing in 23XI, Front Row lawsuit

Michael Jordan’s name came up in NASCAR’s response to the preliminary injunction requested by 23XI and Front Row Motorsports, ahead of the scheduled Aug. 28 hearing. The sport’s governing-body took a shot at the NBA legend in their court filing.

According to Jeff Gluck of The Athletic, NASCAR is claiming that Jordan “wants to use the litigation to grant him a permanent Charter that no other team has.” Of course, the six-time NBA champion is the co-owner of 23XI, along with racing veteran Denny Hamlin.

Alas, the shot underscores the bad blood between NASCAR and Jordan’s team at the moment. 23XI, along with FRM, has been fighting the sport’s governing-body tooth and nail on the unfairness of their charter agreement, and it’s led to a myriad of battles in the courtroom.

Another part of NASCAR’s argument against the team’s preliminary injunction request, per Gluck, is that they believe there’s no irreparable harm being done to the teams because they’re running as Open cars, and no driver has left the team. Additionally, there’s been no danger of them failing to qualify for a race yet.

Suffice to say, it doesn’t feel like both parties are on the same page, but that hasn’t hindered Jordan’s business partner in Hamlin on the track, or 23XI as a whole in 2025. The veteran wheelman has four wins on the year, while 23XI’s Bubba Wallace was victorious at Indianapolis Motor Speedway earlier this summer.

One caveat is last season’s regular season champion in Tyler Reddick is without a win, but he’s come close. He’s still slated to make the playoffs at the moment, as long as he doesn’t have a disastrous result at Daytona International Speedway this coming weekend. 

Regardless, Hamlin, Jordan and 23XI, along with FRM, are fighting for what they believe to be right. They haven’t backed down, and NASCAR hasn’t either. Which side wins out in court remains to be seen, but it’s certainly a bit of a seesaw battle at the moment. 

The latest filing from NASCAR will cause a stir, as they make some pretty heavy accusations against Hamlin’s team. In response, the driver won’t stay quiet, and that’s a good thing for fans of the sport.

Time will tell what the final decision is, but Denny Hamlin, Michael Jordan, 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports are trying to hold their ground. We’ll see if they’re successful in the end, and whether the NBA legend acknowledges any disrespect.