The cost of Michael Jordan-owned 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports' lawsuit continues to mount, with a report this week revealing how much one of the teams' experts charges for his services.
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, who was previously the dean of business schools at Yale University, the University of Chicago and the University of Virginia, produced a 150-page expert report for the teams regarding potential damages owed to the teams, as well as some insight into anticompetitive practices.
Fox Sports' Bob Pockrass reported this week that Snyder's hourly rate is $1,650 an hour, a hefty sum given the amount of work which will have gone into his report, both from him personally and by those assisting him.
NASCAR trial continues to crawl on
Snyder's report put the estimated damages to the two teams at a combined $364.7 million, invoking a complex formula which encompassed a number of factors – including, for example, the higher revenue sharing percentage given to teams by F1 compared to NASCAR.
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.
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.”
The trail continues into its second week, with Judge Kenneth Bell making the decision on Monday to add an extra hour onto every day's hearings in an attempt to hurry along a slow-moving process.
