AVONDALE, Ariz.: Is Denny Hamlin crying wolf?
The new posture he’s taking toward his race team’s lawsuit suggests that might be the case.
While the driver of the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing will compete in the NASCAR Cup Series in 2025, when asked whether he was confident his co-owned 23XI Racing teams will join him in the Busch Clash and Daytona 500, Hamlin’s response was “TBD.”
Hamlin’s comments came at Phoenix Raceway on Saturday, one day after U.S. Court Judge Frank Whitney denied the preliminary injunction filed by 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports. The teams were attempting to operate under the charter system next year while pursuing an anti-trust lawsuit against NASCAR, which was filed on Oct. 2.
Whitney didn’t believe 23XI or Front Row could prove irreparable harm to their teams without protection of the injunction. The lawyers still have the opportunity to show definite harm rather than speculative harm should the teams compete as open squads as opposed to chartered organizations.
On Friday, Jeffrey Kessler, Attorney for 23XI and Front Row Motorsports released the following statement.
“We are pleased with the court’s decision to expedite discovery and fast track the schedule in our case against NASCAR. Although we are disappointed that the preliminary injunction was denied without prejudice and as premature, which we intend to appeal, this denial has no bearing on the merits of our case. My clients will move forward to race in 2025 and continue to fight for a more fair and equitable system in NASCAR that complies with antitrust law.”
Hamlin mirrored the “move forward to race in 2025” mantra at Bristol Motor Speedway on Sept. 20, after he and co-owner Michael Jordan refused to sign NASCAR’s final charter proposal. 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports were the only holdouts of the 15 full-time Cup organizations.
“There’s certain things that we’re going to have to navigate,” said Hamlin regarding the status of the teams next year. “So I hope so.”
Potentially hanging in the balance is the No. 23 car driven by Bubba Wallace, whom the company recently re-signed, and Championship 4 contender Tyler Reddick. The 28-year-old racer is making his first appearance in final title round.
Despite the non-competition related headlines, Reddick is concentrating on the task at hand.
“No. Thankfully, no,” Reddick said. “I wouldn’t say I was necessarily even really concerned that it would be. No, not one single bit. None of it has felt like a distraction.
“For me, I think for our group, it’s championship weekend. Everything else is not even in our focus.”
While 23XI team owners Hamlin and Jordan—along with Front Row Motorsports Bob Jenkins—are looking at the big picture, desiring a greater distribution of TV revenue to the teams, the repercussions to are far-reaching. Both organizations were in line to purchase Stewart-Haas Racing charters. The two drivers expected to benefit from additional seats at the teams were Riley Herbst at 23XI and Zane Smith at FRM.
Smith, who won the 2022 NASCAR truck title for Jenkins, said on Saturday he has no assurances from the owner for 2025. The 25-year-old racer has become accustomed to entering the final race of the season not knowing his path for the following year.
“It’s been an absolutely miserable three, four months, just trying to figure out what’s next,” Smith said. “Obviously, there’s not much available and a lot going on in the sport right now. I wish I had known sooner that I was being let go, so we could maybe have worked on the goal of figuring out what’s next just cause things fill up here and it’s just tough.
“I was supposed to have a spot for three years. To kind of have that happen is unfortunate.”
Hamlin said he has no indication what will happen with the teams’ charters. As for the next step for 23XI, the owners are staying the course.
“The first part is, we’re obviously pleased with the ruling that the judge sees merits in the case,” Hamlin said. “He’s going to move forward to expedite it and expedite the discovery side of it, which is a reverse from what he had before.
“Obviously, judging on it without prejudice and obviously giving us an opportunity to refile once the situation changes, because he knows that things will change over the next few months. Obviously, he understands the complexity of it and obviously understands that this situation is fluid, and we obviously could see some pretty bad harm coming up.”
Follow Lee Spencer on Twitter @CandiceSpencer or email her at: [email protected].
