Here is a rundown of what got me thinking...
Max Verstappen won the Las Vegas Grand Prix as both McLarens were disqualified for excessive wear to their skid plates. This means three drivers have 24 points between them with two grand prix and a sprint race remaining, as Lando Norris is ahead of Oscar Piastri and Verstappen, who are tied for second. Manhole covers again proved to be a menace. Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing hired Gavin Ward. Mick Schumacher will not return to Alpine. Some text message have been released as we near the trial in the 23XI Racing/Front Row Motorsports lawsuit against NASCAR. It warrants our attention.
This Could Be Bigger Than We Think
Unless some settlement is reached before Thanksgiving, we will start the month of December with 23XI/Front Row going to court with NASCAR over the sanctioning body's alleged antitrust violations.
In the lawsuit, the teams are challenging NASCAR's business practices, as the teams believe NASCAR has a monopoly over the industry after the two teams refused to sign NASCAR's new charter agreement terms in 2024. The teams did not agree to the terms that the charters would not be made permanent.
Since the teams filed the lawsuit on October 2, 2024, this has been slowly boiling. For over a year, as more information has trickled out and has been released, both sides have had their dirty laundry revealed, and in recent days we have learned of the Race Team Alliance, the organization that consists of the 15 NASCAR Cup Series team owners, plans to organize non-NASCAR affiliated exhibition races around the globe, including in Oman, and we have NASCAR executives' disdain for the Superstars Racing Experience and its drivers, owners and broadcasters competing in SRX.
More is still to come, and that should have the interest of all motorsports in the United States.
NASCAR's control is not only on stock car racing. It has control on almost every asset in American motorsports. Pretty much any series that has four wheels and competes on pavement in this country likely crosses path with NASCAR. Whether that is the sanctioning body owning the series or the tracks where races are host, NASCAR is likely involved. It even owns the equipment that dries surfaces. What happens in this lawsuit is of much interest to those have never spent a second in the NASCAR garage area.
A decision could not only flip how race teams and wealth are distributed within the sanctioning body, but it could change the landscape of motorsports in this country.
If NASCAR is ruled a monopoly, something would have to be done to break that monopoly. It isn't just paying the teams money and giving them a bigger say at the table. A ruling could require NASCAR to divest itself of some of its assets. That is more than just NASCAR.
That could be selling ARCA. That could be selling the regional series. It could be selling IMSA.
That is more than just series.
NASCAR owns a great number of racetracks, some of the most notable in the country.
Daytona, Talladega, Martinsville, Watkins Glen, even Sebring and Road Atlanta are under NASCAR ownership.
NASCAR owns notable websites as well, such as Racing-Reference and Jayski, two valuable sources when it comes to information involving its series as well as other forms of motorsports.
A seismic ruling could significantly alter the layout of things in American motorsports, and it might not be for the better.
If NASCAR is forced to sell racetracks, those racetracks might no longer be racetracks. A development company could come in and decide to make that land a housing complex. It could become a warehouse or a strip mall. There is no guarantee that there is another entity out there within the motorsports community that would be willing to swoop in. Over the last two decades, the land the racetracks are on is worth more than the track itself. The interested buyers have no interest in maintaining the facility as it is. Its plans are beyond racing and turn the property into something where no one will ever know a track was ever there.
If any track goes away, it goes away for NASCAR and IndyCar and IMSA and any other series that wishes to compete there. A major area could lose its prominent racetrack and interest in motorsports will suffer because of it. It would require more work to maintain the footprint that NASCAR and other series have in this country. NASCAR sold off most of the land in Fontana, and though we are five years removed from a planned short track that was already supposed to be in operation, there is no race taking place at that facility. There isn't even a functional racetrack. Warehouses have sprung around an abandoned slap of asphalt.
Southern California isn't the only place where NASCAR is lacking. Despite its size, the Rocky Mountains does not have a proper facility that draws the top series. The Pacific Northwest has essentially always been ignored when it comes to NASCAR since the start of the Modern Era in 1972. NASCAR did grow over the last 30 years, but it didn't reach everywhere, and one decision could cause the footprint to shrink just a little more.
I don't know if the likes of Roger Penske, Rick Hendrick, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Joe Gibbs, or even Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan have any interest in buying Chicagoland Speedway or Richmond Raceway to save the day if so be it. That could be what is needed depending on the outcome of this lawsuit.
It does not feel like the industry is ready to take on such a demand if called upon. Owning race teams and owning racetracks are two different things. Considering this is an antitrust lawsuit, I am not sure NASCAR could just sell the tracks to Speedway Motorsports, Inc. That appears to solve one antitrust concern by creating another antitrust concern. I am not sure Curtis Francois is looking to expand his track ownership beyond Gateway Motorsports Park. It does not feel like IndyCar has the bandwidth to own any tracks.
There isn't a third racetrack ownership company out there at the moment. A decision could create the space for one to form, but that takes a lot of capital, and I don't know if there are enough interested investors that wants to add multi-track ownership to their responsibilities.
Once the dominoes start to fall, it could get quite messy, and it is a mess most don't want to step in.
We are all heading into this lawsuit expecting something to change. Status quo seems improbable to maintain considering what we now know and how things have developed over about the last 14 months. Though expected, it still might not be fathomable to some people how big the outcome of this lawsuit could be, and how it could extend beyond one sanctioning body. It could be more than just money changing hands and everyone going on their merry way.
A decade down the line, we could still be feeling the ripple effect from whatever is decided, and it might not play out as we hoped. The shock will not be instantaneous. It will likely hit us slowly though we knew it was coming. That is what will make it hurt worse.
There is a chance when enough time has passed, we will be thinking there were no winners from whatever is decided. Are we ready for that?
Champions From the Weekend
Ayumu Iwasa won the Super Formula championship despite a retirement in the first race of the weekend at Suzuka, as Iwasa was fourth and first in the final two races. Iwasa came from behind to defend Sho Tsuboi, who was fourth, seventh and eighth over the three races.
Winners From the Weekend
You know about Max Verstappen and Ayumu Iwasa, but did you know...
Tomoki Nojiri and Igor Fraga split the first two Super Formula races from Suzuka.
Coming Up This Weekend
Supercars finale from Adelaide.
Lando Norris has a chance to clinch the World Drivers' Championship at the Qatar Grand Prix.
The World Rally Championship will be decided at Rally Saudi Arabia between either Elfyn Evans, Sébastien Ogier or Kalle Rovanperä.
