23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports asked the Western District of North Carolina court yesterday to force Hendrick Motorsports owner Rick Hendrick and Team Penske owner Roger Penske to “subject themselves to a thorough deposition” in advance of NASCAR putting them on the witness stand during the antitrust trial next month. 23XI and Front Row said that it “asked three times if Penske and Hendrick intended to testify and they said ‘no,’ leading to the surprise of their inclusion.” Thus, 23XI and FRM “motioned to have Hendrick and Penske appear for deposition interviews,” which the two men “pushed back on, asking the court to limit the scope of what could be discussed while also wanting the conversation to take place over Zoom and not in person.” 23XI and Front Row are asking the court to “order Penske and Hendrick to appear in person and suggest that the push back is akin to asking for special treatment.” 23XI and Front Row “could have motioned for the court to deny NASCAR’s motion to put them on the witness stand due to their late inclusion,” but the two teams “seizing an opportunity maximize the opportunity to get discoverable information” (MOTORSPORT, 11/10).
