A Winston & Strawn plaintiffs attorney representing NBA Hall of Famer Michael Jordan’s stock car race team said his clients “will pursue all of their legal options” if NASCAR attempts to prevent them from competing in the next Daytona 500.

Front Row Motorsports Inc. and Jordan’s 23XI Racing are “prepared to race as open teams next season while pursuing their antitrust claims if circumstances require them to do so,” Jeffrey L. Kessler, co-executive chair of Winston & Strawn, said Sunday after a federal judge rejected his request for immediate relief in the lawsuit.

A North Carolina federal judge this past Friday denied Winston & Strawn’s request for a preliminary injunction, ruling that the plaintiffs cannot receive “extraordinary relief” under “merely speculative” arguments that NASCAR may exclude 23XI and Front Row from competing as open teams next season.

“At this time, Plaintiffs have not met their burden as required for a preliminary injunction,” U.S. District Judge Frank D. Whitney wrote in his order. “Should circumstances change, Plaintiffs may file a renewed motion for preliminary injunction.”

“We are pleased with the court’s decision to expedite discovery and fast track the schedule in our case against NASCAR,” Kessler said Friday in a statement. “Although we are disappointed that the preliminary injunction was denied without prejudice and as premature, which we intend to appeal, this denial has no bearing on the merits of our case.”

Latham & Watkins and Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick represent NASCAR and have described this lawsuit as “meritless.”

Kessler represents 23XI and Front Row in their antitrust complaint accusing NASCAR of unlawful monopolization in the premier U.S. stock car racing market. They accuse NASCAR and CEO Jim France of coercing race teams to sign contracts containing “one-sided economic terms” that would enrich NASCAR at the expense of race teams and drivers.

Any team that signs NASCAR’s 2025 charter is guaranteed to race in upcoming NASCAR Cup Series events, but Kessler’s clients have refused to sign the charter because it contains an alleged provision requiring signers to forfeit their antitrust rights.

“My clients have been seeking to compete under the terms of the 2025 Charter Agreements while preserving their ability to pursue their antitrust claims,” Kessler said Sunday. “If they cannot proceed this way, they will pursue their antirust claims as open teams. I cannot speak to whether NASCAR will seek to interfere with their ability to do so.”

In denying their motion for a preliminary injunction, Whitney in his order said the plaintiffs “have not sufficiently alleged present, immediate, urgent irreparable harm, but rather only speculative, possible harm.”

Whitney left the door open for Winston & Strawn to file a renewed request for extraordinary relief if they can sufficiently allege “urgent irreparable harm” at a future date.

Front Row has two full-time cars competing in the NASCAR Cup Series, including one driven by the 2021 Daytona 500 winner Michael McDowell, while 23XI driver Bubba Wallace in 2022 became the first Black driver to win multiple Cup Series races, according to their lawsuit.

“We will continuously evaluate all of our legal options,” Kessler said Sunday when asked whether Winston & Strawn would file a motion for a preliminary injunction if NASCAR denies 23XI and Front Row a spot to compete in a 2025 NASCAR Cup Series event. “We have already stated our intention to seek an expedited appeal.”