NASCAR denied invitation from Cup teams to meet and discuss charter negotiations in Daytona

This weekend in Daytona, NASCAR denied an invitation from teams to meet and discuss the charter negotiations that have paused. The negotiation window ended last month and for now, talks remain stalled.

According to Adam Stern of Sports Business Journal the Race Team Alliance, a group made up of the 16 teams possessing charters, invited NASCAR to a meeting. Even with all of this extra time with the rain in the past two days, that request was denied.

Instead, NASCAR plans on “sticking with its process of meeting with owners individually,” Stern’s report says. There are also Team Owner Council meetings every quarter. So, that will be coming up in about a month or so.

.@RaceTeamAllianc invited @NASCAR to a group meeting yesterday in Daytona to discuss the charter system negotiations, but NASCAR declined and said it's sticking with its process of meeting with owners individually (along with quarterly Team Owner Council sessions), per sources. pic.twitter.com/4nInX1d5zB

— Adam Stern (@A_S12) February 18, 2024

This does not sound promising for those hoping that a charter negotiation could be achieved in the near future. The team owners are sticking to their guns and bargaining as a single unit. NASCAR doesn’t really seem interested in doing that outside of the TOC meetings.

We have heard from Brad Keselowski and others that teams are looking for more revenue. With a brand new $7.7B TV deal that goes into effect next year, it seems that the money is there. Clearly, the two sides have not been able to come to an agreement yet.

NASCAR charter negotiations remain stalled

There was a feeling at one point last year that the charter negotiations would be done with by Daytona this year. Well, now we have the two parties at odds with one another and we’re pretty much through the Daytona weekend.

So. what is going to happen? It doesn’t make sense for NASCAR or the teams to let the deal expire before signing an extension heading into the 2025 season. The last thing that NASCAR wants is for teams to “unionize” and at this point with the TOC and Race Team Alliance (founded in 2014) it feels like it has happened.

You don’t have Rick Hendrick in there negotiating. It’s Jeff Gordon on the TOC. There are other new names in there as well, like Curtis Polk of 23XI Racing. He has worked as Michael Jordan’s business manager for years. You also have JGR’s President Dave Alpern, and RFK Racing President Steve Newmark.

Last year, the teams said that the business model was “broken.” It was clear then and it is even more clear now, the two sides are not seeing eye to eye. As 2025 gets closer, the pressure will build for both NASCAR and the teams.

You can say that NASCAR has the brand power and name recognition, and the fact they own a ton of race tracks. However, if the Cup Series teams decide to sit out or a charter agreement isn’t reached by next season, who is going to fill their place?

You’re not going to get enough filler owners and teams to build 36 Cup cars that cost $300K each. Who has the most leverage? NASCAR, for sure. But the teams are going to use all that they have and more to get what they see as a fair deal.