Overview
- U.S. District Judge Kenneth Bell granted partial summary judgment defining the market as premier stock-car racing and found NASCAR controls that market.
- The court denied NASCAR’s bid to end the case, sending to a jury whether NASCAR maintained its power through anticompetitive conduct.
- 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports moved to dismiss their Section 1 claim with prejudice to streamline the case around a Section 2 monopolization theory.
- Judge Bell approved depositions of team owners Rick Hendrick and Roger Penske before trial after they were added to NASCAR’s witness list post–discovery deadline.
- NASCAR called the ruling legally flawed and said it will defend the charter system at trial and pursue an appeal to the Fourth Circuit if necessary.