NASCAR lawsuit: 23XI, Front Row hit back at Rick Hendrick and Roger Penske over potential depositions

As Rick Hendrick and Roger Penske seek to stay out of the NASCAR lawsuit as much as possible, they might be too late. In a filing today, 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports are arguing that they should be able to depose and cross-examine Hendrick and Penske.

Rick Hendrick and Roger Penske asked the court to make it so they wouldn’t have to be deposed, sit down for a deposition. A deposition is a sworn testimony that is made out of court, prior to trial. The deposition generally sets the scope and limitations of questions attorneys are allowed to ask of witnesses.

NASCAR brought Hendrick and Penske into this lawsuit. First, with the written declarations about the charter system. And they stated they want it to remain. Now, NASCAR is asking the court to admit them as witnesses for their side. However, they want it limited to the statements made in the declarations.

“The court should deny the extraordinary motion of Rick Hendrick and Roger Penske – who own two of the most storied NASCAR Cup Series teams – that seeks to block Plaintiffs from effectively deposing or cross-examining them so that they can voluntarily provide the sanitized trial testimony that they admit NASCAR CEO Jim France has asked them to provide,” the Plaintiffs argued in the latest filing. “Depriving Plaintiffs of the right to depose and cross-examine Mr. Hendrick and Mr. Penske on indisputably relevant subjects would subvert the purposes of the Federal Rules and Plaintiffs’ fundamental right to a fair trial.”

NASCAR lawsuit could drag Hendrick, Penske financials into trial

Of course, NASCAR couldn’t disagree more. This is going to be a pretty big deal in this lawsuit. Having Mr. H and RP deposed and testify to their financial records is major. NASCAR wants to protect two of its biggest teams. 23XI and Front Row want to get as many facts out as possible. That’s what it seems like, at least.

This case is about the alleged illegal business practices taken by NASCAR in order to protect and grow its monopsony power over the sport of stock car racing. That’s what the case is. It seems that if two of the longest-running team owners in the series are going to testify, those business practices would be relevant.

NASCAR believes 23XI and Front Row are overstepping. They want to limit the scope of testimony by a lot. In fact, NASCAR only wants Hendrick and Penske to discuss the declarations they wrote. That would keep questions and statements to a very limited set of facts.

Rick Hendrick and Roger Penske are involved in the NASCAR lawsuit. They dipped that toe in the water, and now they can’t turn around. 23XI and Front Row do want to discuss financials with these team owners. But that might not be in the interest of NASCAR, Hendrick, or Penske. We’ll see how the court rules on this matter.