CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) Two NASCAR teams, one owned by NBA Hall of Famer Michael Jordan, on Tuesday argued to a federal judge why the organizations still should be issued a preliminary injunction to be recognized as chartered organizations until their antitrust suit against the stock car racing series is finished.

The 11-page filing in U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina was in response to NASCAR notifying Judge Kenneth Bell it would not re-distribute any charters to new participants while the case heads toward its Dec. 1 court date. NASCARs backtrack Friday came one day after an acrimonious hearing that included the disclosure of expletive-laden emails and text messages from Jordan and other high-profile litigants.

23XI Racing, the team owned by Jordan and three-time Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin, and Front Row Motorsports, owned by entrepreneur Bob Jenkins, are suing NASCAR over antitrust claims regarding the charter system. A charter is the equivalent of a franchise and guarantees chartered cars both a spot in the 40-car field each week, as well as a significantly larger chunk of payouts.

NASCAR last September, after more than two years of contentious negotiations, presented teams with its final offer on charter extensions; 13 organization signed the agreements, but 23XI and Front Row refused.

The two teams initially won a preliminary injunction to be recognized as chartered for this season until a jury verdict on the antitrust allegations. That was overturned, and 23XI and FRM are currently competing as open teams. NASCAR wants the money back the teams were paid during the portion of the season they were chartered.

The teams also have appealed to have the chartered status reinstated, but NASCAR argued in court last week it has an interested buyer for one of the six charters previously held by 23XI and FRM, and it plans to immediately begin redistributing the charters. NASCAR backtracked after Thursdays hearing, and a ruling on the preliminary injunction is expected to come from Bell this week.

NASCAR maintains that in holding off on redistributing charters, 23XI and FRM are no longer in danger of suffering irreparable harm. The teams countered Tuesday the threat still exists because of the risk of breach claims from their irreplaceable drivers and loss of sponsors in the absence of charter rights.

Tyler Reddick of 23XI has a clause in his contract that says the team would be in breach if his Toyota is not chartered. Jeffrey Kessler, the attorney for the two teams, indicated in court that Reddick has notified 23XI it is in breach.

Kessler also argued that NASCAR agreeing not to redistribute any charters now does not moot Plaintiffs Motion for Preliminary Injunction or eliminate Plaintiffs irreparable harm if no relief is provided.

The 13 teams that are chartered are becoming frustrated with the case Bell warned last week the entire charter system is in danger of imploding if a settlement is not reached and the non-suing teams believe their valuations are being harmed by the litigation.

Dan Towriss, the majority owner of the Spire Motorsports NASCAR team, as well as owner of Cadillac F1, Andretti Global and other motorsports properties, said he was very disappointed with the direction the lawsuit has taken.

We had meetings with the NASCAR brass a few weeks ago and its How can we help? Towriss said at last weekends IndyCar season finale. What we saw (in court), what was released in that case is very inconsistent with what they (NASCAR) say privately. And so I need to understand, Who am I dealing with? Which one is it? Is it the people we meet with privately, or is what you say when were not around?

Towriss said hed also like to see NASCAR reach a settlement with 23XI and FRM.

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AP auto racing:

美联社北卡罗来纳州夏洛特电 —— 由NBA名人堂成员迈克尔·乔丹持有的两支NASCAR车队，于周二向联邦法官申辩，要求在对该赛车系列赛事提起的反垄断诉讼结案前，仍应获得临时禁令以保持其特许车队资格。

这份提交至美国北卡罗来纳州西区地方法院的11页文件，是对NASCAR向肯尼斯·贝尔法官声明其不会在案件12月1日开庭前向新参与者重新分配特许权的回应。NASCAR周五的立场转变，发生在一场激烈听证会的次日——该听证会披露了乔丹（Jordan）及其他知名诉讼当事人充满脏话的电子邮件和短信内容。

由乔丹和三届戴托纳500大赛冠军丹尼·哈姆林共同拥有的23XI Racing车队，以及企业家鲍勃·詹金斯旗下的Front Row Motorsports车队，正就特许经营体系涉嫌垄断问题对NASCAR提起诉讼。该特许权相当于赛车界的专营资格，确保获特许车辆每周能进入40辆赛车的参赛名单，并分得显著更高的奖金份额。

经过两年多的激烈谈判，美国纳斯卡车赛（NASCAR）于去年9月向各车队提交了特许经营权延期的最终方案。13家参赛机构签署了协议，但23XI车队和前沿车队（Front Row）拒绝接受。

这两支车队最初获得初步禁令，在本赛季反垄断指控的陪审团裁决前被认定为特许车队。但该裁决后被推翻，23XI车队和FRM车队目前以“开放”车队身份参赛。NASCAR要求追回这两支车队在特许资格有效期间所获得的款项。

相关车队已提出上诉要求恢复特许经营权，但纳斯卡（NASCAR）上周在法庭上辩称，其对23XI车队和FRM车队此前持有的六项特许经营权之一已有意向买家，并计划立即启动重新分配程序。在周四的听证会后，纳斯卡改变了立场，而关于初步禁令的裁决预计将于本周由贝尔法官作出。

NASCAR坚称，暂缓重新分配特许经营权后，23XI车队和FRM车队已不再面临无法弥补的损害风险。但两支车队于周二反驳称，威胁依然存在——"由于缺乏特许经营权，可能面临不可替代的车手提出违约索赔，以及赞助商流失的风险"。

23XI车队车手泰勒·雷迪克（Tyler Reddick）的合同中有一项条款规定：如果他的丰田赛车未被列入特许名单，车队将构成违约。代表双方团队的律师杰弗里·凯斯勒（Jeffrey Kessler）在法庭上表示，雷迪克已正式通知23XI车队其违约行为。

凯斯勒还辩称，NASCAR目前同意不重新分配任何特许经营权，'并不能使原告的初步禁令动议失去意义，也无法在未提供救济的情况下消除原告遭受的不可弥补的损害。'

获得特许经营权的13支球队对此案日益不满。贝尔上周警告称，若无法达成和解，整个特许经营体系恐将崩溃。未参与诉讼的球队则认为，这场官司正在损害它们的估值。

斯皮尔赛车（Spire Motorsports）NASCAR车队的大股东、凯迪拉克F1车队（Cadillac F1）和安德雷蒂环球（Andretti Global）等赛车产业的所有者丹·托里斯（Dan Towriss）表示，他对该诉讼的发展方向“深感失望”。

几周前我们与NASCAR高层进行了会面，他们当时的态度是‘我们能提供什么帮助？’托里斯在上周末印地赛车赛季收官战上表示，‘（法庭上）我们看到的情况以及该案披露的信息，与他们（NASCAR）私下表态存在严重矛盾。因此我必须弄清楚——我面对的究竟是谁？哪一面才是真实的？是我们私下会面时接触的那些人，还是我们不在场时的说辞？’

托里斯表示，他也希望看到纳斯卡赛车与23XI车队及FRM车队达成和解。

美联社赛车新闻：