"They are just freewheeling right now": Kenny Wallace weighs in on 23XI Racing, Front Row losing charter status for the 2025 season

23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports suffered a fatal blow to their lawsuit against NASCAR. On Wednesday, September 3, 2025, a federal judge denied the team's preliminary injunction, which means the teams will run as open entries until the end of the 2025 season. Following that, former Cup Series driver Kenny Wallace gave his take on the case.

The situation emerged when the governing body imposed a new charter agreement, and the teams refused to sign it. Notably, 23XI and FRM slammed NASCAR, including CEO Jim France, with a lawsuit, accusing them of creating a monopoly in the sport. Following the hearings, the court ruled in favor of the stock car racing association, stripping the teams of their charters.

As such, 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports driver will suffer a major blow to their winnings. As open charters, the drivers will receive a fraction of the prize pool compared to charter drivers, who will bag the full pool. Reflecting on the same, Kenny Wallace stated:

"23XI and Front Row Motorsports have been denied. It's over. It's official. They have gone; they have gone on and on and on. So Michael Jordan 2311 front row. They do not have a charter. They are just freewheeling right now. Right now what? Hey, I hear an echo in here. That was weird, wasn't it?" [03:58 onwards]

"So they're just racing for free. I think, uh, I think Tyler Reddick could win the race and, uh, maybe get about a hundred grand. He might get a million if he was a charter member," he added.

23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports won an initial injunction in December 2024 that allowed them to race as charter teams. However, the court overturned the decision in June 2025, and now the US District Court for the Western District of North Carolina stands corrected on the decision, denying the teams' request to restore their charter status.

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“We didn’t ask for this”: NASCAR president shared his take on the lawsuit between the governing body and 23XI Racing

Earlier in August 2025, NASCAR president Steve O'Donnell sat down with stock car analyst Eric Esteep on the Out of the Groove podcast on YouTube. During the podcast, O'Donnell shared his perspective on the lawsuit 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports initiated.

The NASCAR president expressed his disappointment in both teams for refusing to sign the agreement and filing the lawsuit against the sanctioning body. He added (via YouTube):

"I can't get into the specifics, right, of the litigation, but, uh, it's important that, uh, I think everyone knows, you know, the teams—the team sued us, right? We didn't ask for this. Um, we're still not sure what they're even asking for. Um, candidly, in terms of an outcome, what we've seen really doesn't have anything to do with why the lawsuit was brought. So it's a little bit perplexing." [33:50 onwards]

The drivers affected by the decision include the #23 Toyota Camry XSE driver Bubba Wallace, his teammate, the #45 Toyota driver Tyler Reddick, and the #35 driver Riley Herbst of 23XI Racing. Todd Gilliland, Zane Smith, and Noah Gragson are the drivers from Front Row Motorsports. Notably, the lawsuit is set to go on trial on December 1, 2025.