A lawsuit from 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports is threatening to expose NASCAR’s iron grip on stock car racing, and an old social media post from Trackhouse Racing’s Justin Marks could be the smoking gun. The basic premise is that the two teams have accused NASCAR of running a monopoly over stock car racing. Of course, the sport’s officials have denied the claims and are fighting back. However, Trackhouse Racing’s Justin Marks might have evidence against them.

Back in 2022, he tweeted something that sounded like a great idea. The NASCAR and MotoGP team owner proposed a unique exhibition NASCAR race event. Unfortunately, nothing really came of it and the idea was soon dead in the water. The intention was to celebrate the history of NASCAR through the years, which sounds really fun.

Justin Marks found out why NASCAR killed off the idea

As he explained on social media, the exhibition would last for four races. Each race would represent a different era, from the 1970s to the 80s, the 90s and the 2000s. Of course, finding NASCAR Cup cars from each era will not be an easy task, from a logistical standpoint. However, Marks had a solution for that little problem. As a matter of fact, he suggested searching for restored, track-ready cars and inviting several legendary drivers to race them.

Unfortunately, NASCAR must have seen this innocent suggestion as a threat to their reign. Barely a couple of days later, the series filed a trademark for ‘NASCAR Classic’, which was obviously a reference to Marks’ idea. It talked about sanctioning racing events, an online database for historical rulebooks, and licensing historical specifications to third parties to use in racing events. The entire thing unfolded in the span of 2 days.

All of this just lends credence to the accusations of running a monopoly. Especially when people consider the fate of the SRX Series, which only lasted 3 years. The Tony Stewart-owned series was a massive hit with the American racing community and even drivers, some of whom raced in it. However, NASCAR felt threatened by its popularity and swiftly moved to successfully shut it down. It does make one wonder just how far the stock car racing series is willing to go to preserve its own reign.

This did nothing to kill off Marks’ ambition

It is quite safe to say that Justin Marks is a very enterprising man. After all, it’s not easy to own a team spanning across multiple motorsports. Aside from NASCAR, his Trackhouse Racing team also operates in the MotoGP series and recently celebrated a maiden win. The organisation also runs part-time in the IMSA Series, having run the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona in 2025.

Frankly, the multi-sports presence is not a novel concept, as Chip Ganassi Racing used to do it. Back then, CGR competed in NASCAR and IndyCar, but has since pulled out of the former to focus on IndyCar. Finally, there is Team Penske, which is active in NASCAR, IndyCar, IMSA, World Endurance Championship, and even Formula E. Once upon a time, they also partnered with Dick Johnson Racing in Supercars, but ended the partnership in 2020.

Maybe Justin Marks is trying to become the next Roger Penske and build his own motorsports empire. For the moment, he is looking forward to the 2026 season for both of his teams. When it comes to NASCAR in particular, it is incredibly exciting for him, owing to the star-studded line-up. In 2026, Ross Chastain and Shane van Gisbergen are back once again. Only this time, they have a new face in the lineup, and his name is Connor Zilisch. The teenager has already turned heads with his Xfinity Series run, where he very nearly won the title. So there are a lot of expectations for the upcoming Cup campaign.