NASCAR Legal Dispute Heats Up

The NASCAR legal dispute is heating up as an injunction is requested and NASCAR responds. This is just one of a number of motorsport legal stories in a packed Business of Motorsport Roundup this week. I also have speculation on the future of the Andretti Global F1 bid, details on IMSA’s overflowing grid and the latest motorsport sponsorship deals and partnership news.

Motorsport Industry News

Formula 1

Andretti Cadillac F1

With the news that Michael Andretti is stepping down from an ownership position at Andretti Global, a lot of questions have arisen about how this will affect the team’s various racing interests, especially it’s Formula 1 bid.

According to Autosport, things are continuing to progress with the F1 project and some have even speculated that with Andretti not leading the bid any more, it may in fact have a better chance to survive. Here are a few articles that look at what may come to pass at Andretti Global with Michael no longer involved.

I had mentioned last week how FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem has become more vocal after stepping away from the spotlight for a few months. Now he is addressing the supposed threat of a breakaway series last year as something that would never have happened.

“All that nonsense we had before, that talk about a spin-of… Come on, for God’s sake. Can we behave a bit more maturely? That’s not going to happen,” Ben Sulayem insisted. “Formula 1 still belongs to the FIA. We rent the rights, we lease them to someone else. And we both understand and respect that now.”

Read more at Planet F1.

General Motorsport Industry News

Grand Prix of Arlington

The IndyCar Series is set to return to Texas with a street race around the homes of NFL’s Dallas Cowboys and MLB’s Texas Rangers in March 2026. The 2.73-mile track will take drivers through Arlington’s center of its sports and entertainment district, around the AT&T Stadium and Globe Life Field, which sells more than 1.6 million tickets to spectators for events annually.

Autosport has all the details and RACER looks at the track design and what drivers, and fans, can expect.

In other IndyCar news, Adam Stern of Sports Business Journal reports that the series was offered more money by a different network than what it got from Fox Corporation but made the switch from NBC Sports because Fox’s deal that starts in 2025 gave the series the most exposure according to CEO Mark Miles. You can read the full story here.

NASCAR Legal Dispute Heats Up

A total of 48 entries have been confirmed for the full 2025 WeatherTech Championship season, with 56 entries slated to compete in the five Michelin Endurance Cup rounds. Those numbers are headed by 11-full-season GTP entries, plus two more for the endurance rounds. In addition, January’s season-opening Rolex 24 At Daytona is expected to have a field in excess of 60 cars when the entry list for that event is revealed in early December. Series boss John Doonan has revealed that they received nearly 90 entry requests for January’s Rolex 24 at Daytona, hinting that the 2025 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season opener could exceed its previous 61-car cap.

“The golden era of IMSA sports car racing is right now, as evidenced by yet another incredibly strong and competitive entry list for the 2025 WeatherTech Championship and Michelin Endurance Cup season,” said IMSA President John Doonan in his State of the Sport address leading into this weekend’s season-ending Motul Petit Le Mans at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.

Read more at RACER.

Quick Takes on the Business of Motorsport This Week

Business of Motorsport
NASCAR Legal Dispute Heats Up

Highlights from the Sustainable Motorsport Roundup

Electric Race Truck

This week I give you a taste of the awesome power of an all-electric race truck that you probably never knew you wanted to watch race. I also bring you details on Formula 1’s sustainable aviation fuel move, some interesting sustainable motorsport-related conferences to attend and the debate over what will power the World Rally Championship in 2027. All this and more in this week’s edition of the Sustainable Motorsport Roundup.

The Numbers

Talladega 2024

Last weekend’s visit to Talladega became NASCAR’s most-watched postseason race since the 2022 championship finale. An average of 3.127 million viewers saw JTG Daugherty Racing’s Ricky Stenhouse Jr emerge victorious after a 28-car crash turned the race on its head reports BlackBook Motorsport. Average viewership increased 25 per cent year-over-year (YoY) and the audience peaked at 4.2 million on NBC. The 2024 event becomes the most-watched postseason race at Talladega since 2018.

Meanwhile, BlackBook Motorsport reports that 81 per cent of new Formula One fans are consuming content related to the series on YouTube, according to a study carried out by sports marketing agency Octagon. The global survey canvassed the opinions of fans between the ages of 16 and 30 who have been following Formula One for fewer than five years. It covered markets in the UK, US, France, Germany and China. Read more here.

Motorsport Law Roundup

A look at some of the legal and regulatory issues and analysis in motorsport this week

Denny Hamlin & Michael Jordan

In last week’s Motorsport Law Roundup I mentioned how 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports have filed a joint lawsuit against NASCAR accusing the governing body of “anti-competitive and monopolistic control of the sport”. Well things have just been ratcheted up a notch.

The two teams have now filed for an injunction that would allow them to continue competing as chartered entries next season while their lawsuit with NASCAR proceeds. In response, NASCAR is arguing that they knew exactly what they were getting into when they signed up to race in the series and that they had plenty of time to negotiate over their charters with NASCAR.

Here is a roundup of some of the analysis over the growing legal dispute.

Earlier this year, Kaufman & Canoles Associate Darden Copeland attended The Racing Attorney Conference (TRAC) for its 15th annual conference at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. TRAC is an annual conference for motorsports attorneys and other sports industry professionals that is traditionally held in world-class racing venues across the country. Darden walked away from TRAC with several key insights on legal issues and other relevant topics affecting the motorsports industry. You can read some of his takeaways here.

The rights owner to Formula 1’s Singapore Grand Prix has been charged in connection with a major corruption case surrounding the country’s former transport minister. S. Iswaran was jailed for a year on Thursday after being found guilty of receiving gifts while in office. The owner of the rights to the race in Singapore’s Marina Bay, Ong Beng Seng, has now been charged having been accused of giving alleged kickbacks to Iswaran – who announced his resignation earlier in the year. Autosport has all the details.

Speaking of the Singapore Grand Prix, John Hand of The Motorsport Lawyer looks at whether or not there was a conspiracy amongst the two Red Bull-owned teams to influence the F1 World Championship at this year’s edition of the race.

“But I’ve seen various articles, videos, etc reporting that there are “no rules” in F1 against a multi-team owner using Team A to benefit Team B. That’s incorrect. However, the question is not whether there are any rules on this (there are), it’s whether anyone would ever enforce them (they won’t).”

You can read his complete analysis here.

Aston Martin has revealed it will ensure it avoids getting engaged in legal disputes regarding talks with Adrian Newey before his arrival at its Formula 1 team in 2025.

“I don’t know,” he told Autosport. “I need to check with our legal department. I think you need to be very careful with these things. You know, we do not want to get into legal [matters] going forward. That would just not feel right.”

Read the full article in Motorsport Week here.

Otmar Szafnauer has distanced himself from the contract saga surrounding Oscar Piastri at Alpine in 2022, saying his face was used on a team press release to “deflect the incompetency” of others at the time.

“There was a contract after he finished his F2 career where Alpine had an option on Oscar Piastri as a Formula 1 driver for Alpine, and that contract was never executed,” Szafnauer explained on the High Performance Podcast. “In November, there was a two-week time window where it could have been done, and it wasn’t.”

Read more at Planet F1.

Finally, Christopher Deacon of Stewarts Law looks at the legacy of Jules Bianchi and safety in motorsport ten years after his tragic death.

“Following Jules’ death, Formula 1’s governing body the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) introduced numerous measures to improve driver safety and prevent another tragedy from taking place. Through the legal process, Jules’ family were able to secure various safety improvements as part of his legacy to motorsport. One of the most notable improvements that quickly followed Jules’ accident was the introduction of the halo crash protection device. The halo has since been credited with preventing serious injury in eight instances, potentially saving the lives of other drivers.”

You can read the full article here.

Motorsport Sponsorship & Partnership News

Here are the latest motorsport sponsorship deals, partnerships and related analysis that were announced this week

Rolex IMSA
Business of Motorsport

The Business of Running a Race Team

NASCAR Legal Dispute Heats Up

Team & Manufacturer News

Here is a roundup of the latest team news from around the world of motorsport

Business of Motorsport
NASCAR Legal Dispute Heats Up
NASCAR Legal Dispute Heats Up
NASCAR Legal Dispute Heats Up
Iron Dames
NASCAR Legal Dispute Heats Up
Business of Motorsport
Mark Boudreau
Author: Mark Boudreau

Mark is the publisher of Motorsport Prospects. As a former lawyer, he applies his legal background and research skills to assist race drivers by showcasing the resources they need to make their motorsport careers happen.