The talks between NASCAR and its Cup Series teams about renewing their charter agreement are at a standstill. The Associated Press explained the current situation on Monday. Both sides have strong demands that are causing disagreements, and neither is willing to compromise.
There’s talk about what could happen if they can’t reach an agreement, including a possible boycott or the teams forming their own racing series. However, none of the teams really want to go down that road.
NASCAR has offered the teams a seven-year extension on their 36 charters, which are the entries for full-time Cup Series teams. This offer also includes a cap on costs and two controversial ideas: allowing NASCAR’s owners, the France family, to buy charters, and letting private equity firms buy them too.
Charters are valuable because they guarantee a spot in races, but they don’t have a set price. The cost to buy one has gone up a lot since they started being used in 2016. For example, Spire Motorsports paid $6 million for one in 2018 and $40 million for another in 2023. This is why the teams want the charters to be permanent. If NASCAR decides to end the charter system and the agreements expire, all the money that team owners spent on charters could be lost.
The charters are set to expire after this year, and with NASCAR not willing to give in, the teams have to think about what to do next. According to the AP:
“The teams don’t want to start their own racing league, and believe NASCAR would move on without the likes of Hendrick Motorsports or Joe Gibbs Racing or Team Penske if they decided to boycott races. Such a scenario would leave it to fans to decide if the replacements — likely drivers and teams from lower-level series — provide a watchable product.”
Denny Hamlin, who co-owns 23XI Racing, said there’s still a lot of work to do after NASCAR’s offer was reviewed. “We have a long way to go. So that’s going to be the priority over the next few months to get this thing a little closer,” he added.
NASCAR and the teams really need to reach an agreement. If they don’t, it could seriously hurt stock car racing. IndyCar still hasn’t fully recovered from its own split in 1996, when team-run CART and Indianapolis Motor Speedway formed separate racing series.
