NASCAR and its teams are in a race against time as they continue holding off on finalizing the charter agreement. The current deal ends with the 2024 season finale in Phoenix and pens need to be put to paper before then. Riding this corner, 23XI Racing co-owner Denny Hamlin has come out with revelations about what’s causing serious concerns about NASCAR’s way-of-business.
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The 43-year-old was on video with Dale Earnhardt Jr. for DirtyMo Media during a conversation surrounding the issue. He said, “There are three stakeholders in this sport. The tracks, the teams and NASCAR. To be quite honest, two of those stakeholders make nine figure profits a year and one stakeholder loses seven figure profits per year. So there’s clearly a disconnect.”
Continuing to draw the curtains further open, he said that teams had asked for a third of the revenue that was generated in the future and had been “adamantly” denied. He added that there were other key pillars such as permanent charters and transfer of ownership protections that the teams had demanded fairly, and not received a positive response.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. intervenes as Hamlin’s frustration reaches a blowing point
While Hamlin has – in the past – been transparent about his worries over the way revenue was shared between NASCAR, teams, and the tracks, he hasn’t opened up on internal matters, until now. His desire is that the fans were more in the know about what was going on behind-the-scenes. He admitted the same to Dale Jr. and warned of a key consequence that would result from not finalizing a deal.
He said, “We just wouldn’t show up when we don’t need to. The Clash, we won’t show up at the All-Star Race, wouldn’t show up at… Maybe there’s some races that pay less. We just won’t show up to those. It’s just not financially good.” Quickly realizing the impact of his words, Hamlin noted that a few team owners might not like him saying these things in public.
As he tried justifying himself by putting forward his high levels of frustration, Dale Jr. broke his flow, “I’m gonna cut you off before you get yourself in big trouble.” Neither NASCAR nor the teams would want a situation that Hamlin gave a glimpse of. As all parties work towards the common goal of continuing to put up an entertaining show for fans, the hope is that a mutually beneficial setup is reached.
