Reports have circulated for months regarding 23XI Racing's plans for the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season. An antitrust lawsuit has now confirmed that the team has plans to expand.
23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports jointly announced on Wednesday they had filed an antitrust lawsuit against NASCAR and CEO Jim France. This lawsuit accused NASCAR and France of the "unlawful monopolization of premier stock car racing."
This lawsuit provided the history of both 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports while also providing insight into current moves.
"23XI is currently in the process of acquiring a third charter," the lawsuit states. "23XI and Stewart-Haas Racing, LLC entered into a purchase agreement on August 7, 2024, but the transaction is still in escrow and requires approval from NASCAR.
"In the interim, Stewart-Haas Racing, LLC signed NASCAR's 2025 Charter Agreement."
Stewart-Haas Racing, which currently owns four charters, will exit NASCAR after the end of the 2024 season. One charter will remain in Kannapolis, North Carolina, as Haas Factory Team continues to compete full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series.
The other three charters, which guarantee into every race on the schedule, will be sold to other teams.
23XI Racing has remained linked to one of these charters since the announcement that Stewart-Haas Racing would exit the Cup Series. The team has not publicly stated its plans, but the lawsuit provides some confirmation.
The driver most closely linked to 23XI Racing currently competes under the Stewart-Haas Racing banner. Riley Herbst, the driver of the No. 98 Ford Mustang in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, has been the reported favorite to land at 23XI Racing.
"Not confident by any means," Herbst said about his future ahead of the Xfinity Series playoffs. "Distraction-wise. I think it weighs on all of us a little bit. I'd be lying if, I said it didn't.
"Hopefully, things kind of sort themselves out here in the meantime."
Trackhouse Racing owner Justin Marks all but confirmed the purchase of one charter from Stewart-Haas Racing while announcing that Shane van Gisbergen would move full-time to the Cup Series in 2025.
Marks did not explicitly say where he had obtained the charter, but he said "probably not a bad answer" when Fox Sports' Bob Pockrass guessed Stewart-Haas Racing.
Front Row Motorsports announced on May 29 its plans to expand to three full-time teams while purchasing a charter. According to the lawsuit, this charter will come from Stewart-Haas Racing. However, the lawsuit says that this transaction remains in escrow and that it requires approval from NASCAR.
Whether these transactions go through remains to be seen. Neither 23XI Racing nor Front Row Motorsports signed the most recent charter agreement offer in early September, which they addressed in the lawsuit.
Both teams will file a preliminary injunction as part of this process so that their cars can race next season under the 2025 charter agreement while continuing with the lawsuit against NASCAR and France.