It looks more and more likely that the antitrust lawsuit between NASCAR and 23XI Racing, and Front Row Motorsports will proceed to the December trial. While settlement talks have reached no positive end so far, former driver Kenny Wallace has expressed his strong belief that a mutually beneficial middle ground is the ultimate need of the hour, particularly for NASCAR.
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The sport was essentially a dictatorship before it introduced the charter system in 2016. The power it held has now been diluted, and teams have a good grabbing end. This end is what owners Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin have held on to.
With the daunting financial backing that Jordan brings to the table, they have little to no reason to submit to the sanctioning body. Wallace opined that NASCAR needs to understand that.
“What’s 23XI got to lose? You know, 50-100 million dollars. I’m reading that Michael Jordan’s making 350-400 million per year on tennis shoes,” he said. “ NASCAR, they don’t want to go to this to go to court because then they have to open the books up and say this is what we’re making.”
Goodyear might have to do the same. Furthermore, concerningly, both parties appear to be aware that going to trial is a suicide mission for at least one of them.
Hamlin told the press at Martinsville last weekend, “I think both sides probably feel strong about their case. I think if you sat in the courtroom and you heard the arguments… I’ll let you form your own opinion, but I think one of us is on a suicide mission.”
Wallace doesn’t sit comfortably with the idea that both NASCAR and 23XI Racing are willing to burn their houses down. He reiterated that NASCAR should have kept things under control entirely and not gone down the way of the charter system. He added, “Once NASCAR opened that door up, now you see what happens. Now all the teams come. All it took was one person.”
What Dale Earnhardt Jr. wanted NASCAR to do
Like Wallace, Dale Earnhardt Junior had initially wanted the promotion and the teams to compromise as well. He even believed that NASCAR would not let things go to this extent, considering the fame and influence that Jordan brought to the table.
He said in an interview with USA Today Sports earlier this year, “I think NASCAR wants Michael Jordan to be happy and to be enjoying what he’s doing. What’s going to happen, I believe, is both sides will compromise and come to an agreement, and then Jordan will enjoy being an owner and have success.”
As things stand, it doesn’t seem likely that either party will back down from their positions. All that’s left to do is wait for the 1st of December with the hope for a miracle.
