Jeff Gordon explains his optimism that NASCAR, teams will reach charter agreement

NASCAR and race teams are still without a charter agreement for the 2025 Cup Series season, but Jeff Gordon remains “optimistic” about the process.

Gordon, vice chairman for Hendrick Motorsports, spoke to reporters ahead of this Sunday’s Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and said he feels the teams have crafted a proposal that’s very “fair” for both NASCAR and teams.

“I’ve had a lot of optimism through this whole process,” Gordon said, via Dustin Long of NBC Sports. “It’s been a long process, much longer than I anticipated. There were times that I thought we were making great progress and times where I thought we were going backwards. I’m in that optimistic mode right now where all the teams got together and looked at all of our needs and where NASCAR’s response was and how we needed to respond.

“I feel like we’ve put something back in their hands that is very fair and makes sense and with a lot of thoughtfulness from all the teams. It’s hard to get all the teams to agree — and not everybody does with everything that is on the table — but we know that this is what we think is very acceptable and has compromises, not only for the different teams and what they’re trying to achieve and also for NASCAR.”

Jeff Gordon offers new perspective on NASCAR charter negotiations

At the center of negotiations, teams fight to secure permanent charters. Under the current model, charters are not permanent franchises like the setup in other professional sporting leagues. Teams 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 teams lose money on a yearly basis. Teams argue that by not having permanent charters, it makes it more difficult to attract outside investors and invest in their operations.

Whereas Gordon feels optimistic, 23XI Racing co-owner Denny Hamlin has painted a bleak picture for how negotiations are unfolding. Hamlin told Kenny Wallace on “Kenny Conversation” this past week that every proposal NASCAR has sent over to teams has been worse than the one before it. As a result, no progress is being made with time running out. Hamlin added that if an agreement doesn’t get done before the Daytona 500 in February, teams could opt to only show up to the racetrack when the money’s right.

Gordon, however, isn’t panicking. He said that Hendrick does have a plan to run a full schedule next year.

“I think right now it’s not time to panic or anything else,” Gordon said. “We do have contracts in place, and we have a plan as if we’re going to be running a full schedule next year. That’s where Hendrick Motorsports is at today, still very optimistic.”