Overview
- U.S. District Judge Kenneth Bell granted partial summary judgment to 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports on market definition, concluding the relevant market is premier stock-car racing and that IndyCar and Formula 1 are not substitutes.
- The order holds that NASCAR’s Cup Series is the sole buyer of premier stock-car racing team services, establishing monopsony power for purposes of trial.
- NASCAR’s bid to dismiss the case was denied, setting a Dec. 1 jury trial to decide whether the sanctioning body maintained that power through anticompetitive conduct tied to the charter system.
- Bell last week dismissed NASCAR’s counterclaims, including allegations of an illegal cartel involving the teams and 23XI co-owner Curtis Polk.
- 23XI and Front Row declined to sign new charters and are competing unchartered with reduced prize money, while NASCAR says the ruling is legally flawed and signals it will defend the charter system at trial and, if needed, in the Fourth Circuit.