23XI Racing hires ex-attorney of $318.21B giant to tackle antitrust case against NASCAR

23XI Racing has brought in a heavyweight attorney to deal with NASCAR's countersuit. The team's co-owner, Curtis Polk, hired Eric Hochstadt, a top antitrust litigator that has worked with $318.21B giant, Meta.

Hochstadt has previous experience representing the likes of Visa, H&R Block and Grubhub. He currently serves as a partner and Head of Antitrust Litigation at Orrick, a global law firm.

Polk deemed his services neccessary, seeing how NASCAR filed a countersuit claim against 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports.The sanctioning body accused the teams of colluding to influence the 2025 charter agreement.

"Agreed to a scheme to pressure NASCAR to accept their collusive terms, including by engaging in media campaigns, interfering with NASCAR’s broadcast agreement negotiations, threatening boycotts of NASCAR events and engaging in a group boycott of a NASCAR Team Owner Countil Meeting,” NASCAR said in a statement( via On3.com)

Court documents of the antitrust case revealed NASCAR's stance on Polk.

"Curtis Polk knowingly and actively orchestrated and participated in this illegal conspiracy, while working as a member of the TNC on behalf of the RTA and aiding 23XI’s and Front Row’s participation in the scheme," NASCAR stated. (via NBC Sports)

Polk's legal team now have to defend against claims that the team owners themselves violated antitrust laws. On the other hand, a ruling on the preliminary injunction is expected this week.

Last week's hearing uncovered fiery, expletive-filled allegations from both sides. 23XI Racing's co-owner Michael Jordan, shared that teams will regret not standing by them in the anti-trust case.

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23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsport stand firm on their fight against NASCAR

23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports showed no deterence in their stance against NASCAR. The teams were denied of any concessions from the governing body.

NASCAR insider Jeff Gluck recapped the premliminary junction hearing last week and made the following observation:

"Anyway, the teams say NASCAR 'refused to make any changes to their commitments and representations, which left Plaintiffs with no choice other than to maintain their Motion for Preliminary Injunction to seek to preserve the status quo through the trial.'"

Jeff Gluck

@jeff_gluck

Here is what the teams offered to make the preliminary injunction request go away: -- NASCAR won't change the rule that allows the teams to make every race for the rest of this year (NASCAR already said this in their Friday notice) -- NASCAR won't transfer any of the six former

Gluck also mentioned that the judge hoped for both parties to settle the dispute between themselves, but made it clear he will issue a ruling if an agreement is not reached. Notably, the judge had warned that no side will come out victorious and how the ramifications will affect the sport as a whole.

The preliminary injunction was filed by 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsport to pause the sale of their charters by NASCAR. If the sale were to go through, the teams would be left without a guaranteed start and have to compete as open teams. The situation could trigger a fallout with their driver lineup and spell doom for the organisation.