CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Former NBA player Michael Jordan and his fellow owners of two NASCAR teams appeared in federal court Monday for a hearing in his antitrust fight against the stock car series for what they say is an unfair business model.

23XI Racing, owned by Jordan and three-time Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin, and Front Row Motorsports, owned by restaurant entrepreneur Bob Jenkins, sued NASCAR and president Jim France in October after months of tense negotiations over NASCAR’s charter system, which is essentially a franchise model that includes revenue sharing.

The two teams say NASCAR gave all Cup Series teams a last-minute, “take it or leave it” offer in September that both 23XI and Front Row refused to sign. The owners maintain that the bylaw system limits competition by unfairly tying teams to the series, your footprints and its suppliers, and called the France family and NASCAR “monopoly bullies.”

The fight unfolds as NASCAR heads into its championship weekend, with the title-deciding race scheduled for Sunday in Phoenix with 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick among the four drivers who can win.

U.S. District Judge Frank D. Whitney last week denied an expedited discovery request by 23XI and Front Row for NASCAR to produce documents before Monday’s preliminary injunction hearing.

“While the proposed discovery requests may help plaintiffs demonstrate a likelihood of success on the merits, they are not narrowly enough tailored,” Whitney wrote.

Jordan, Hamlin and 23XI’s Curtis Polk were joined by Jenkins and Front Row president Jerry Freeze for the hearing, which is crucial in determining how the upcoming season will play out for the two teams.

23XI and Front Row can still compete next year, but as open teams. They argue that even to compete under NASCAR’s open team agreement, there is a clause that would release NASCAR from any future litigation, so both teams want a court order to continue their current lawsuit while they compete.

The teams argue that NASCAR would not be harmed by the court order because the series had planned to have 36 sanctioned teams and allowing them to compete as sanctioned teams while the lawsuit was filed maintained the status quo.

NASCAR now says it plans to have 32 contracted teams and eight open cars (instead of four) in its 40-car field each week. 23XI and Front Row currently have two contracts each that they did not sign, and both have agreements with Stewart-Haas Racing to purchase one contract each.

Those deals have not been finalized and NASCAR has indicated it will not recognize the sales. NASCAR alleges it is only complying with the 32 charter agreements that were signed in September.

NASCAR maintains that the two teams do not meet the requirements for an injunction because they can still compete as open teams and that any damages they suffer if they prevail in the case can be covered monetarily.

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