Denny Hamlin reveals ‘the straw that broke the camel’s back’ for 23XI Racing to sue NASCAR

Denny Hamlin co-owned 23XI Racing recently sued NASCAR in the federal court for an anti-trust lawsuit in a stark turn of events.

Denny Hamlin reveals ‘the straw that broke the camel’s back’ for 23XI Racing to sue NASCAR

Denny Hamlin (Via IMAGO)

Over the past week, the NASCAR world has been taken aback by the sudden filing of an anti-trust lawsuit against NASCAR by 23XI Racing and FRM. Though teams were initially happy with the charter agreement, Denny Hamlin explained how NASCAR’s tight deadline and lack of responsibility became the final nail in the coffin that urged 23XI Racing to take legal action against the series.

Denny Hamlin is a driver for the JGR team and is the co-owner of 23XI Racing, which has recently soared in headlines owing to the anti-trust lawsuit the team has filed against NASCAR. However, the 43-year-old was unaware of the intricacies of managing a team before going all in with 23XI Racing and revealing how NASCAR practices monopolistic tendencies while signing the charter agreement.

YouTube video

Moreover, Hamlin has been at the forefront of the entire saga and claimed that having a close deadline to sign the charter agreement without any scope for negotiations had run him out of patience. This led him and team co-owner Michael Jordan to appoint revered anti-trust lawyer Jeffrey Kessler to lead their charge inside the courtroom.

That was the straw that broke the camel’s back. When essentially you know you get this document, that, by the way, your lawyer just had the first opportunity to talk 24 hours before that, and then all of a sudden you must sign this and we’re done. When NASCAR put that clause in the very, you know, I’m not speaking out of turn here because I know these things are now public… they put in there, ‘If you sign this you cannot sue us for anything basically that we have done through this process. You can’t sue us for anti-trust.’ They took away all of our rights. All of our rights.

Denny Hamlin said

On the other hand, they have also gained support from the FRM team. Thus, the verdict by the court could decide the future of the two teams within the sport, whether the judgment is in favor of the two racing teams or in the favor of NASCAR.

Denny Hamlin fires shots at NASCAR for their hypocrisy

With Hamlin adopting an aggressive outlook over the past week, his allegations against the championship did not stop with the federal case. The race at Talladega saw the biggest wreck ever in the 21st century, directly affecting 28 cars of the 40 participating that weekend, which warranted multiple cars to restart the race, despite the original Damaged Vehicle Policy ruling them out.

Denny Hamlin
Denny Hamlin (Via IMAGO)

The Toyota driver was furious with how NASCAR changed its rules with the changing circumstances. He called for the organization to have a level playing ground and not treat other drivers unfairly when the stewards ruled them out mercilessly for having minuscule damage.

The problem is you can’t change it[DVP] now because other people’s seasons have been decided by this rule in one way shape or form. You can’t change it in the middle of your playoffs, you can’t change your mindset in the middle of the playoffs. There’s too many people affected.

Denny Hamlin said in the Actions Detrimental podcast

Apart from this, the No.11 driver looks set to proceed into the Round of 8 after benefitting from the late race crash at Talladega. Moreover, if he can get back in the groove in the next few races, then he could become a serious title contender amidst the likes of Kyle Larson, William Byron, etc.