Team Owner Calls NASCAR “Communist Regime” Over Charter Deal

What’s Happening?

A lingering storyline of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season is ratifying a new Charter Agreement. However, it sounded like talks apparently ended this weekend in Atlanta, with 13 teams meeting a NASCAR-sanctioned deadline. However, in a twist, two teams held out.

• NASCAR Charters allows entry into each NASCAR Cup Series race for those teams that own one of the 36 charters per car entered. Owning a charter also permits revenue sharing with teams, helping the profitability of competing in NASCAR. Negotiations have gone on for some time now but kicked up this year with the end of the season looming.
• While extremely private, the negotiations have had some public moments this year, with team owners, such as 23XI’s Denny Hamlin, touting their displeasure with NASCAR’s handling of owners’ needs. This tension bled over into the end of negotiations when two teams held off on signing the agreement.

Who Held Out?

The end of negotiations was swift. Many insiders have reported that some teams felt that NASCAR forced them to sign the new agreement. Two teams, 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports, responded to NASCAR’s terms by not signing.

While we know little about FRM’s status, 23XI’s owners are outspoken about the tough negotiations. 23XI part-owner Curtis Polk told the media that 23XI feels like it is standing up for more than just their team, but rather all teams.

This is not the first time the co-owner has spoken out. Polk notably wore a piece of paper on the back of his shirt last weekend at Darlington, stating, “Please don’t ask me about my Charter. I don’t want to disparage NASCAR and lose it.” Referring to NASCAR’s reported goal of an “anti-disparagement clause” in the new agreement.

However, as Bob Pockrass of Fox Sports reported, some owners, like Brad Keselowski, felt it was the right deal. Adam Stern of Sports Business Journal reported that teams will see a boost in revenue sharing with the new seven-year agreement. Still, many owners have voiced their displeasure to the media.

On this week’s episode of Dirty Mo Media’s “The Teardown,” Jeff Gluck and Jordan Bianchi expanded on how teams felt about NASCAR sending the reportedly 105-page agreement to teams with a short deadline to sign. One owner referred to it as NASCAR “putting a gun to our head,” and another owner compared NASCAR to a communist regime.

What That Means for the Future?

For NASCAR, their aggressive move continues a 76-year precedent that they are in charge as a sanctioning body. But is that precedent worth losing an already watered-down reputation amongst fans?

More so, what does it mean for 23XI and FRM?

As brave as they are, the two holdouts risk losing their charters in the future. While they can still enter their teams and drivers unchartered, it would be costly for the two teams’ combined five charters.

Losing their charters would further hurt the team’s financial status as they may not be able to see any financial returns on the charters, which have sold for millions of dollars in recent years.

However, Bob Pockrass suggests this strategy could pay off as NASCAR could face legal problems for revoking teams of their charters.

Negotiations once thought to be over are taking on a new twist. However, will the sport benefit from these two teams potentially risking it all, or will NASCAR swiftly end this rebellion like the previous negotiations?

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