NASCAR Charter Could Be Double-Edged Sword

NASCAR and charters seems like it will be good for everyone but it also seems like it will come with a price.

With all this talk recently about a NASCAR Charter taking effect in the garage, it seems highly likely that the Sprint Cup field may be shrinking from the traditional 43 cars to 40 cars. NASCAR CEO Brian France addressed this matter recently in an interview with Eli Gold on the NASCAR Live radio show, saying that this would mean more value for the teams involved in the sport as well as provide a way for current teams to perform more efficiently.

As it stands with this charter, 36 teams will be solidly locked in every event in the season. Because of this, many teams will have better financial security largely in thanks to a minimum threshold in winnings throughout the year. Another major asset of this, due to the Race Team Alliance, is that team owners will have a larger role and a louder voice in matters of competition and rule changes because of this franchise model that both NASCAR and the RTA are strongly optimistic about.

Considering how NASCAR freely went about with their constant rule package changes last year, this would keep owners from potentially having to pay a boatload as independent contractors thanks to this franchising model. On top of that, it’s easy to understand that as established team owners they want to make sure that their cars are in every event.

Such an instance that comes to mind where this franchising model would have worked is the October 2014 Talladega event, where Roush-Fenway driver Ricky Stenhouse Jr. failed to qualify thanks to the confusing first-year rules of group qualifying. Stenhouse had qualified for every event leading up to Talladega that year, and had done very well there in the past. But he ended up going home. Had this franchise model been in place, Stenhouse, who drives for one of NASCAR’s most iconic teams in an entry that has also won two Daytona 500s and the 2003 Cup championship, would have been able to focus more on competing on Sunday rather than going home.

So to put it bluntly, this would be making sure the main fan favorites are in the show on Sunday. This is nothing more than a bunch of businessmen wanting to make sure their assets are protected. It’s perfectly normal, and it allows them to be more involved with that sanctioning body’s rulings and decisions. This is perfectly reasonable and understandable. Besides, maybe the field does need a bit of a trim to make the overall product more competitive. It would eliminate the strokers and keep the teams capable of doing well on any given weekend.

However, what about the underdog teams who arrive every weekend with the goal of starting a race and doing what they can do be as competitive as possible? The small-town heroes that are here to make a name for themselves and to help a growing race team become more established? What happens to them?

Remember in 2014 when Phil Parsons Racing ran the full season with Josh Wise in the No. 98 entry? Josh only missed just one event that season, despite finishing no better than 20th at Talladega in the Spring and ending the season with only four DNFs. Of course, that was a big year for both PPR and Wise, as they gained a large following due to the Reddit.com community. An underdog driver that somehow made the most out of the least, yet with the franchising model any driver in a similar position would have to sweat out not making the show and possibly delivering for the fans.

With guys like Richard Childress, Jack Roush, Joe Gibbs, Roger Penske, and Rick Hendrick advancing in age and nearing the ends of their careers, this franchising thing is a way to make sure their creations and legacies live on. That’s one thing. But it also squeezes out the little guys of the sport, and is that such a good thing?

It isn’t. Sure, the big guys of the sport do their parts to draw in fans and sponsors, but the little guys are also integral too, and there needs to be a way to involve them on a weekly basis as well. Something that doesn’t just rely on fastest time in qualifying. Often times, the little guys outperform some of the better-funded teams. Think Roush-Fenway Racing and their performance is recent years.

Going back to the instance of Wise, during his 2014 campaign with Reddit, Wise interacted with fans throughout the season both by constantly talking to the fans on Reddit’s NASCAR and Dogecoin communities, as well as calling and talking to fans. Because of his interactions with the fans, he was voted into the All-Star race via the fan vote. During this time Wise became a bit of a sensation, garnering positive national attention from organizations like CNN and Fox News.

Wise’s and PPR’s efforts that year drew in fans from all over the world, more than any half-cocked idea of Brian France’s. They drew in positive attention and brought in new fans, and isn’t that exactly what NASCAR has tried to accomplish for many years now?

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Other small teams could carry themselves in the way Wise and PPR did in 2014, and they could just as easily draw in fans in ways that Tony Stewart and Kyle Busch aren’t able to. Therefore, NASCAR should take these smaller, single-car teams into consideration and try to accommodate them as well. This isn’t Atlas Shrugged. If NASCAR is helping out the owners of the RTA, then they could just as easily help the single-car teams just scraping by.

Although the word is that the RTA and NASCAR should be implementing a franchising model before this year’s Daytona 500, they should find a way to work with the smaller teams as well. Until then, keep the 43-car field as is and allow the smaller teams (who are looking to grow) and chance to prove they belong.

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