NBA icon Michael Jordan is suing Nascar, the most prominent racing organization in the United States, accusing it of maintaining an illegal monopoly that has caused financial harm to a team he partially owns.
On Monday, he sat in the front row of the courtroom for the opening day of the lawsuit trial, listening to emotional evidence from Denny Hamlin, the three-time Daytona 500 winner and co-owner of Jordan’s team, 23XI Racing.
Jordan and Hamlin, along with Front Row Motorsports, accuse Nascar of illegally generating hundreds of millions of dollars by restricting opportunities. Nascar CEO Jim France, who took over the stock automobile racing business from his father, Nascar’s owner, rejects any wrongdoing. Jordan’s 23XI and Front Row Motorsports, led by fast food franchisee Bob Jenkins, filed the lawsuit in October 2024. Judge Kenneth Bell is presiding over the trial in Charlotte, North Carolina.
They claim Nascar has hampered innovation and profits by mandating that teams drive and repair the company’s Next Gen vehicles using parts purchased from Nascar-licensed vendors. They further argue that Nascar has too much control over all parts of the racing series, including the rules and regulations, requires “monopolistic” exclusivity provisions, and controls the majority of the race tracks on the Cup program, making it difficult for competitors to arise.
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