The court hearing 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports' case against NASCAR was told on Monday that the organization owes the teams a combined $364.7 million in damages.
Edward Snyder is a professor of economics who previously worked at the Department of Justice in the antitrust division, and was called by the teams to explain how NASCAR is engaging in anticompetitive business practices.
Snyder presented a complex formula with which he came to that $364.7 million figure, partially based on the 45 per cent of revenue sharing given by F1 to its teams (compared to 25 per cent by NASCAR when the charter system was introduced in 2016).
Other topics were covered in his expert testimony, including the matter of teams not being able to use the Next-Gen car in non-NASCAR events despite buying the cars.
Expert witness: NASCAR using anti-competitive practice
On that, Snyder said: “To me, as an economist, this situation bothers me. Team owners are building the car. They technically own the car, and it’s their most important piece of equipment. But they cannot use it outside of NASCAR. That’s anti-competitive.”
Meanwhile, Judge Kenneth Bell has ordered that each day's trial hearings will be extended.
Judge Bell took both sides to task on Friday for how long the trial – initially slated for two weeks in court – was already looking likely to last, with 23XI and FRM attorney Jeffrey Kessler admitting he didn't expect his side to wrap up until the middle of the second week in court.
In court on Monday, he extended each coming day by an hour, in an attempt to keep proceedings moving along at a permissible pace.
