After two years of battle, the fighting side finally split. Most of the Race Team Alliance bowed down to NASCAR’s pressure despite its demands getting ignored. The winningest and oldest team owners of the sport are in the fray as well: Rick Hendrick, Roger Penske, and Joe Gibbs. Their shifted allegiance came about even after Michael Jordan and younger team owners chose to keep the classics out of the front.
So now both 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports are left to wade through lonely waters. Both teams refused to sign the strong-arm charter deal, and both face a jittery future. Despite the risk, Hendrick and fellow signees came up with convenient excuses for their defection.
Major split within the RTA wrought by Rick HendrickADVERTISEMENT
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NASCAR knew how to hit back!
At the beginning of 2024, the RTA invited the sanctioning body for group discussions that NASCAR glaringly avoided. Knowing it would be overpowered, the series chose to meet owners individually—and also mainly the oldest owners. Rick Hendrick has the most trophies under NASCAR. Hendrick Motorsports boasts 310 Cup victories and counting and also 14 Cup championships. Similarly, Roger Penske owns four championships and Joe Gibbs has five.
All these achievements came under the age-old charter system of NASCAR. So as Eric Estepp, the NASCAR analyst, speculated in a recent video, this may have been their driving force to sign the new charter deal.
Estepp isn’t alone in predicting the scenario; veteran Cup driver Kevin Harvick has also shared his two cents on this situation: “You’ve been dealing with a lot of legacy owners that have been here a long time. You have these relationships with Richard Childress and Jim France and Rick Hendrick and Roger Penske and Jack Roush. Whether you’re the ring leader representing these guys, they’ve been here a long time. In the end, these guys are all going to have conversations.” So ultimately Rick Hendrick decided to go along with Jim France’s wishes.
But the reason that Mr. H gave for his team’s acceptance of the new charter deal was, “I was just tired…I think we worked really hard for two years and it got down to, you’re not going to make everybody happy.”
Why are NASCAR giants leaving Michael Jordan to fend for himself? Is this fair to the sport?
Even Michael Jordan and others at the helm of the Race Team Alliance realized this earlier. Estepp also mentioned that younger faces were preferred to lead the protest. “RTA intentionally tried to keep some of these legacy owners out of these meetings. Instead, they sent younger guys like Jeff Gordon, Dave Alper, Curtis Polk.”
So despite not having to do the dirty work, Rick Hendrick and his older compatriots chose to abandon the RTA altogether at the last moment. However, the question that still remains unanswered is, if there would be a better deal for teams, had it only been for 23XI or FRM.
No, right?
A deal with better profits for the team would have benefited each and every team, big or small, old or new in the sport. But despite Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin putting up a fight for all, the two are left alone. But the 23XI stands as a powerhouse. The team shared an update as they crossed the signing deadline, “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.”
A team as young as 23XI also chose to yieldThings are still fuzzy about why Front Row Motorsports decided to join 23XI Racing’s boat. The young and fledgling team has a lot at stake—it already bought a $25 million Stewart-Haas Racing charter for 2025. Clearly, CEO Bob Jenkins is prepared to go all out just like Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan are. But other young team owners are not willing to take this risk.
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For instance, Justin Marks.
His team, Trackhouse Racing, joined NASCAR in 2021 and even trumpeted its fearlessness to challenge the status quo. However, it is not willing to take risks as per NASCAR’s rigid charter system.
“I really admire 23XI’s conviction and commitment, and how hard they’re fighting for themselves and the teams in the sport, but I just don’t know what happens from here on out,” Marks admitted recently.
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“For me, regardless of how you want to build a narrative around it, it’s NASCAR’s sport and they said that [they were] done negotiating here. That is the deal. It’s not going to change. That’s the deal that is on the table and we have to make a decision.” He added, “The philosophy of mine has always been coming from a place of partnership and collaboration.”
Evidently, 23XI and FRM may weather a particularly brutal storm ahead. In the absence of heavyweight support like Rick Hendrick’s, the two teams have big stakes at hand.
Source : EssentiallySports