Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski address NASCAR charter proposal: 'There's still a ton of work to do'

The calendar has flipped into June and NASCAR and race teams still haven’t come to terms on a new charter agreement for 2025 and beyond. Speaking with the media ahead of Sunday’s Enjoy Illinois 300 at World Wide Technology Raceway, Denny Hamlin admitted “there’s still a ton of work to do” with the current agreement coming to an end after the 2024 Cup Series season.

NASCAR teams got the charter proposal from NASCAR on Tuesday. Denny Hamlin and Brad Keselowski, as driver/owners who have media obligations, indicated during their media sessions that there is more work to be done. pic.twitter.com/P6PVeLMg3y

— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) June 2, 2024

“Yeah, I think there’s still a ton of work to do,” Hamlin said, via Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports. “Not a little bit of work, quite a bit. That’s gonna be the priority over the next few months maybe to get this thing a little closer.”

Brad Keselowski was also asked for his thoughts on where negotiations stand and though he said he doesn’t have a “strong opinion yet,” he sees progress being made.

“I haven’t formed a strong opinion yet,” Keselowski said. “Would like a little more time before going deep but it seems like things continue to progress, but I’m not one to go out on a limb and say that everything’s done. It’s certainly not. But there’s good progress and I respect that.”

NASCAR, race teams still negotiating new charter agreement

At the root of the matter, race teams’ fight to secure permanent charters. Under the current model, charters are not permanent franchises like the setup in other professional sporting leagues. Team can lose their charters due to poor performance on the racetrack or failing to field their cars week in and week out. As a result, most race teams lose money on a yearly basis.

Among other issues at hand, the amount of revenue sharing taking place between the racetracks, race teams and NASCAR itself. Race teams currently get 25% of broadcast revenue, tracks 65% and NASCAR 10%. Race teams are hoping to secure at least half of the revenue TV brings in. NASCAR notably announced $7.7 billion in media rights deals with FOX Sports, NBC, Warner Bros. Discovery and Amazon for 2025-2031.

NASCAR has offered race teams more of a slice of the revenue from the new broadcast deal but is only willing to renew the charters for seven years. Race teams argue that by not having permanent charters, it makes it more difficult to attract outside investors and invest in their operations.

Denny Hamlin speculates on NASCAR motives for changing charter limit

According to the latest reports, NASCAR could be looking to limit the amount of charters that teams can possess. The sanctioning body wants to limit teams to three charters in the future, with Hendrick Motorsports and Joe Gibbs Racing grandfathered in at four teams.

Hamlin is no fan of that proposal, and explained why on his “Actions Detrimental” podcast earlier this week.

“Come see me when it’s the final eight or final 12 [in the playoffs]. Ain’t gonna be but just a couple of teams in there and you’re just not going to stop that,” Hamlin said. “[NASCAR] is trying to. They’re trying everything they can. Parity, parity, parity, but it’s the same freaking three or four cars that are up front every single week. You’re not going to stop the best drivers, the best teams, the best crew chiefs, the best pit crews from being the best. You’re not going to stop that.

“So, I don’t know. It will be interesting to see how it all comes together but I can speak for my group just saying we’d like to get a deal done sooner than later because certainly it’s hard to plan for the future when we don’t have a charter agreement and right now, we don’t.”