Ross Chastain Kyle Larson and Tyler Reddick head down the front straightaway during a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kan., Sunday, May 7, 2023. The fight between NASCAR and its teams over a new revenue model prompted the owners of 16 chartered organizations to send a letter to NASCAR's board of directors earlier this month requesting "meaningful dialogue" regarding the franchise model system.
But the letter makes clear the main sticking point between the teams and NASCAR remains the charter system, under which each of the 36 cars with a charter are guaranteed a spot in the 40-car Cup Series field each week and a slice of TV package revenue. "We have seen the market for Charters rise since initially issued, but there is currently no real market due to the uncertainty surrounding the pending renewal process," the letter states. "In order to continue to invest in our Teams and the sport as a whole, we need to build long term value in our Charter ownership that is stable, predictable, and permanent.
The current charters expire at the end of the 2024 season -- the same time as NASCAR's current television package -- and the negotiating committee told AP last month that NASCAR was unwilling to even discuss making them permanent. The committee is comprised of Jeff Gordon representing Hendrick Motorsports; Joe Gibbs Racing president Dave Alpern; RFK Racing president Steve Newmark; and Curtis Polk, an owner in 23XI Racing and long-time business manager for Michael Jordan.
"We would like to directly engage in conversations in order to understand concerns. Items that have been mentioned are general concepts about transfer restrictions, protection from bad actors and dealing with material adverse economic changes over time," the letter says.