CHARLOTTE, N.C. — An antitrust lawsuit trial pitting 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports against NASCAR started with some strong words from Judge Kenneth D. Bell, who admonished both sides of this legal battle multiple times.
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The weekend away from the courthouse featured Plaintiffs and Defendants alike filing objections to pieces of evidence set to surface during the second week. One particular set of objections was made at 2:55 a.m. on Monday morning. Another set was made at 6:50 a.m. However, the majority of these objections were then taken back.
Judge Bell started Monday's session 30 minutes early, and he told the legal teams that they had "wasted judicial resources" with their objections. He closed the court session at 5 p.m. by telling the legal teams that any filings needed to be made no later than 10 p.m.
This did not end the discussion, however, as the Court spent approximately 50 minutes going through each objection one by one by one before the first witness returned to the stand. The Defendants, in particular, had 15 objections about a 58-page presentation created by Plaintiffs' expert economist, Professor Edward A. Snyder.
We are in morning recess. The remaining witnesses for Plaintiffs are an expert economist, expected to last several hours.
After that, Steve Phelps, Richard Childress, and Jim France.
This morning began at 8:37ish so Judge Bell could work out numerous objections that both sides…— John Newby (@JohnNewby_) December 8, 2025
This expert economist spent the majority of the day on the witness stand as the slow pace of the trial continued. Plaintiffs' lead attorney Jeffrey Kessler began direct examination of Professor Snyder at 11 a.m. He continued until 12:46 p.m. when Judge Bell called for the lunch break.
Professor Snyder's direct examination lasted from 1:52 p.m. until 2:54 p.m. Defendants' attorney Lawrence Buterman then began cross-examination at 3:04 p.m., and he did not finish before 5 p.m.
This caused a problem with the schedule considering that Judge Bell told Kessler he wants Plaintiffs to rest their case by the end of Tuesday. The legal teams still have to finish with Professor Snyder before Kessler calls NASCAR Commissioner Steve Phelps, NASCAR CEO Jim France, and Richard Childress. The NASCAR team owner was the subject of derogatory text messages from NASCAR executives.
Clearly, the timeline does not seem realistic, so Judge Bell has made a major change to the schedule. He asked the nine jurors if they would be able to serve from 8:30 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. the remaining four days this week.
Judge Bell then told Defendants' legal team that he expects their first witness on the stand before the end of Tuesday. NASCAR stated on Monday it expects to call 16 witnesses before closing arguments.
