Trackhouse owner Justin Marks responds to reports teams were ‘forced’ to sign NASCAR charter agreement
Trackhouse Racing was one of 13 teams to sign NASCAR‘s final charter offer ahead of the midnight deadline Saturday morning.
Teams were presented with the offer at 6 p.m. ET Friday and given just six hours to make a decision. Jenna Fryer of the Associated Press reported that teams were “coerced and threatened” to sign the charter agreement.
“Sign or we will revoke your charters,” Fryer wrote on X, “can be scary language to a family business.”
Trackhouse owner Justin Marks said on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Monday that he didn’t see it that way from his perspective.
“I think everybody can interpret it in their own way,” Marks said. “For me, regardless of how you wanna build a narrative around it, ultimately, it’s NASCAR’s court. And they said that ‘We are done negotiating here. This is the deal. It’s not gonna change. This is the deal that’s on the table.’ And ultimately, we have to make a decision. And I looked at that and said, ‘Well, I’m not going anywhere, so we’re gonna sign it.’ So, you can interpret that anyway that you want.
“Every team and team owner has their own relationship with NASCAR and mine, the philosophy of mine is always coming from a place of partnership and collaboration. So, I don’t necessarily feel like it was that way.”
23XI Racing speaks out after refusing to meet NASCAR-imposed charter deadline
The only teams who did not sign by the midnight deadline were 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports. 23XI co-owner Denny Hamlin has been open about his frustration with how negotiations have gone over the past two years, so it’s hardly a surprise that they did not agree to NASCAR’s final offer.
“23XI decided to not meet a NASCAR-imposed deadline last night to sign Charter agreements for its two cars for 2025-2031,” the team said in a statement. “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.
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“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.”
While it remains to be seen what happens on that front, Marks made it clear he was ready to accept the day NASCAR said, “this is it.” That day came this past weekend at Atlanta ahead of the Cup Series playoff opener. While there are some things in the agreement Marks doesn’t like, he ultimately feels there’s enough in there that he can “build a business around.”
Trackhouse owner Justin Marks explains decision to sign NASCAR’s final charter offer
“If the day doesn’t come when someone finally goes, ‘we’re done here, we’ve taken as long as we need,’ then it will never come. The negotiation will never end,” Marks said. “Me personally, I was ready and anticipating the day that it came where NASCAR said, ‘This is it. We’re done, we have addressed all these issues, and you know where we won’t move. We moved on the things where you want us to, we’ve agreed to 90% of it or 75% of it. It’s time to get this thing done.’ And that day came last week. I sort of knew in the back of my mind that NASCAR wanted to put this thing to bed before we went to the playoffs.
“As far as how I feel about it, I think and I expressed this to NASCAR. There are things about the agreement that I really like that will be very helpful to us. There’s things in the agreement that are different than the way I would have wanted them to end up. That are going to be challenges. I think it’s just both sides trying to get the best deal for them as possible. And there’s a lot of consensus in the group that this is probably where we’re gonna end up. And where we’re gonna net up and we have to make some decisions.
“For Trackhouse, we didn’t get everything we wanted but we got some of what we wanted. At the end of the day, the agreement is one that I can build a business around. And that we can embark on the future, embrace what it is and everything in it and go on ahead.”