NASCAR giants Roger Penske and Rick Hendrick are set to face a full grilling from lawyers as part of the sport’s ongoing court battle with Michael Jordan’s 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports.
As of now, the future direction of the sport is set to be decided in a North Carolina courtroom next month, with 23XI and Front Row alleging antitrust violations in the high-profile case.
The teams also want NASCAR’s business practices changed as they believe they are monopolistic. The case began late last year after both teams refused to sign the new charter agreement offered up by NASCAR starting with the 2025 season.
With no immediate signs of a settlement, both sides are now preparing for trial, and the full involvement of team owners like Penske and Hendrick will add yet more intrigue to a hugely important case.
Penske and Hendrick fail with legal bid
That full involvement was confirmed on Tuesday when, per The Athletic’s NASCAR insider Jeff Gluck, the pair’s request not to be asked about certain topics in their depositions was denied.
Gluck, writing on social media, revealed: “Update: The judge denied Hendrick and Penske’s motion to not be asked about certain topics and said unless NASCAR committed not to call them as witnesses, then they had to be deposed without the “special treatment” they were asking for.”
What does this latest ruling mean?
In short, it means that the bid by Penske and Hendrick (fully supported by NASCAR) to limit the topics they testify about has been denied.
It now means that in theory nothing is off the table when it comes to the line of questioning from the lawyers representing 23XI and Front Row.
A settlement conference last month failed to bring a resolution to the case without it going to trial. So as it stands all roads lead to December 1, unless something changes in the meantime.
