NASCAR’s seemingly never-ending charter agreement saga took a major turn this week after Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing co-owner Brad Keselowski revealed his stance on the hotly contested topic. Solidifying his team’s future in the sport and agreeing to the terms offered by the governing body, Keselowski aimed to show commitment towards stock car racing by cooperating with the governance.
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The decision from the RFK Racing owner and driver came in light of a deadline set by NASCAR themselves for the teams to adhere to and sign their respective charter agreement contracts by Friday midnight, leading up to the start of the 2024 Playoffs at Atlanta Motor Speedway this weekend.
According to reports, two teams, namely 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports, remain the only outfits to not have signed an agreement per NASCAR’s timeline. 23XI Racing’s co-owner Denny Hamlin’s stance on the ordeal with his recent comments regarding the same explains why.
.@23XIRacing confirms that it did not sign @NASCAR's charter offer last night. pic.twitter.com/eRjNGFKNBA
— Adam Stern (@A_S12) September 7, 2024
Brad Keselowski, on the other hand, spoke on how RFK Racing reached a tipping point where a “settled” future for the growth of the organization was key. He elaborated on his thought process surrounding the cooperation with the governance’s offered deal.
“We want to run NASCAR for a long time to come and signing the charter agreement is a statement to our commitment to doing just that. We’ve got great plans for the sport and excited to see that continue on for quite some time,” he told the media.
The #6 Ford Mustang driver added further clarity to how he and the team reacted to the terms of their signed contract, and whether they felt a fair resolution was offered by the governing body.
“Obviously, we’d like to have better. But there’s pieces we really like and there’s pieces not so much. But it’s hard to use the word ‘fair.’ I don’t know if I know what that means.”
“We felt it was right to do a deal”
Adding further context to what has been an essential yet played-out topic in the sport, the RFK Racing driver and co-owner also touched on how fellow driver-owner Denny Hamlin’s non-compliance with the governing body’s charter deal affects fellow NASCAR teams.
The #11 Toyota Camry XSE driver has been the most vocal in terms of how teams are deserving of a return on the spectacle they put on for the viewers in stock car racing in the form of permanency of their charters, whereas the governance has agreed towards a seven-year deal for the team’s charters at best.
Cup teams apparently got another charter offer from NASCAR this week. At least this member of the team owners negotiating committee (23XI’s Curtis Polk) doesn’t want to talk about it. pic.twitter.com/Zi3AiJjMJ3
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) September 1, 2024
23XI Racing as well as FRM Motorsports’ stance on the issue seemingly did not affect other teams’ decisions. “I really haven’t thought about it. We certainly respect their decision-making ability and all the time that comes with that. For us, we felt it was right to do a deal,” explained Keselowski.
As for NASCAR forcing teams to go through with the process by the Friday deadline with threats of their charters being revoked, the 40-year-old added, “I don’t know where that’s coming from. Forced is a a really strong term but we are getting to a spot where it’s important to get these things settled.”
It remains to be seen where the charter negotiation non-compliance from Hamlin‘s 23XI Racing and FRM Motorsports takes the ultimate deal to, and whether NASCAR acknowledges the same. There are no comments released by either on the topic as of now.
