Dale Earnhardt Jr. sounds off on prospect of permanent NASCAR charters, how it would change sport

One specific item that NASCAR Cup Series teams wanted in the new Charter Agreement was permanent charters. NASCAR’s final offer to the teams did not include permanent charters.

The Charter Agreement was signed by 13 of the 15 Cup teams Aug. 6, 2024. Nearly two months later, 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports, the two holdouts, filed an antitrust lawsuit against NASCAR and its CEO Jim France. The two sides went to trial last Monday.

What if charters suddenly became permanent like franchises? Dale Earnhardt Jr. dove into the topic earlier this week.

“If the charter remains nothing more than a guaranteed entry into a single event, I think then values remain where they are today. What the teams have recognized are if those charters were to become permanent and therefore basically a franchise, the values are well north of $150 million. So, you’re sitting there with a charter that’s worth let’s say $25 million and by the stroke of Jim France’s pen, it will now be $150 million,” Earnhardt said on the latest "Dale Jr. Download." “If you’re a charter owner, of course you’re hoping for that to happen. I believe, secretly, even the people that signed the Charter Agreement that someway, somehow, in the end, that these do become permanent. That is the ultimate decision that I think comes out of this whole trial.

“They’ll be some other little nuances of will 23XI and Bob Jenkins be rewarded some damages, will this lever get pulled, will this little thing get changed, will somebody lose a job, will this person get replaced? All those things may happen, could happen but ultimately, I think what we are deciding is do the charters become franchises, do they become permanent and realized in new value north of $150 million?”

NASCAR, 23XI/FRM reach settlement

Earnhardt made the comments Tuesday. Both sides reached a settlement Thursday. All charters will become permanent “forever,” 23XI and FRM attorney Jeffrey Kessler announced.

So, what now? Even before the settlement, Earnhardt was able to speak on what permanent charters would mean for the future of the sport. Expect a “gigantic barrier of entry,” he said.

“If that happens, there is no going back. Like, it changes the sport forever,” Earnhardt said. “You’ll basically have 36 franchises — however many cars start a race — they’ll be the franchises, owned and valued and they will sell and trade from one entity to another over the course of decades and centuries, however long this goes. They’ll be a gigantic barrier of entry.

“As we’ve known racing for 75 years, if you wanted to build a Cup car and show up at a race and try to compete, you did. Probably not gonna go all that well, you’re gonna compete against the regular teams and that’s what it was, but you could. That’ll be gone forever.”