23XI Racing speaks out after refusing to meet NASCAR-imposed charter deadline
The NASCAR charter negotiations have officially entered scary territory. 23XI Racing has now released a statement on why they have not signed. The team believes that they and the other Cup Series owners were not given time to negotiate the latest offer.
According to the statement from 23XI Racing, NASCAR set a deadline for teams for last night. There were reports that the sanctioning body wanted to have the deal signed before the playoffs.
23XI and Front Row Motorsports are the two teams that have held out so far. Reporting earlier today suggests the other teams did sign the agreement according to NASCAR’s deadline.
Here is the statement from 23XI.
“23XI decided to not meet a NASCAR-imposed deadline last night to sign Charter agreements for its two cars for 2025-2031. 23XI’s position, as stated in a letter to NASCAR, is that we did not have an opportunity to fairly bargain for a new Charter contract.
“We notified NASCAR what issues needed to be addressed, in writing, at the deadline. We are interested in engaging in constructive discussions with NASCAR to address these issues and move forward in a way that comes to a fair resolution, while strengthening the sport we all love.
“At 23XI Racing, we remain committed to competing at the highest level while also standing firm in our belief that NASCAR should be governed by fair and equitable practices.”
This is a bold move from 23XI Racing and Front Row. There were reports from Jenna Fryer that NASCAR “coerced and threatened” teams into signing the charter agreement.
If that is the case, then this is not going to go away any time soon.
23XI Racing and NASCAR not seeing eye-to-eye
Last week we saw 23XI co-owner Curtis Polk with a peculiar sign on his shirt. He had a piece of paper safety pinned to his shirt that said “Please don’t ask me about my Charter. I don’t want to disparage NASCAR and lose it.”
That has received mixed reactions from those in the sport. NASCAR attempting to add a clause that disparaging the sanctioning body can get you in trouble, or possibly even result in losing your charter, is too much.
23XI and Front Row have interests and NASCAR has its own interests. There are going to be compromises made, but so far, Hamlin and his group feel that those compromises are too great on their end, and not enough for NASCAR.
With the other teams signing the deal, I’m not sure there is a lot of power for 23XI Racing. Is there a chance there is legal action taken? That also remains unclear, but the Cup Series teams did tap Jeffrey Kessler earlier this year to represent them. He is an antitrust and sports law attorney.