Tony Stewart says NASCAR's charter system has the potential to be 'ludicrous'

Stewart-Haas Racing co-owner Tony Stewart believes that NASCAR‘s charter system has the potential to be “ludicrous,” he recently told Dustin Long of NBC Sports.

“I think NASCAR is going to play a big role in that,” Stewart said. “[Team owners] are spending millions of dollars to put on the product for NASCAR. The idea that they [NASCAR] don’t want to give permanent charters, I think, is ludicrous. For somebody that wants to invest in the sport, why would you invest in something and not have security of knowing that your investment is somewhat secure?

“We [team owners] all hold all the risks. We’re the ones that have to go out and secure sponsorship to put these cars on the racetrack. And to sit there and have a sanctioning body not support that and want to support us from the charter standpoint, I just think it’s asinine. I’m sure they’ve got their reasons, and I’ll respect their reasons but may not agree with them at all times.”

NASCAR adopted the charter system in 2016. It guarantees entry into the field of every NASCAR Cup Series points race, per NASCAR.com. There are 36 charter teams, who are all held to a performance standard. If a team finishes bottom three of the owner standings for three consecutive years, NASCAR can remove the charter. In 2020, NASCAR president Steve Phelps announced an extension of the charter system through 2024.

Tony Stewart hopes charter system issue works itself out

Team owners went public this past October over their frustration with NASCAR’s business model. As Jenna Fryer of the Associated Press wrote in April, owners are frustrated over what “they consider a broken business model in which racetracks and NASCAR make the bulk of the money and teams are forced to fund their organizations through outside sponsorship.”

Stewart is hopeful the issues between the two sides will get worked out.

“I hope so,” Stewart said. “I think it’s extremely critical for the sport and the longevity of the sport. There’s going to be a lot of eyes on that decision [by] people that make decisions on whether they want to invest in the sport or not.”