The Cup team executives stressed the need for a better economic model for teams for their sustainability and longevity.
The demand from the negotiating committee included the need for additional revenue streams for the team.
The committee, which comprised of Jeff Gordon, vice chairman of Hendrick Motorsports, Curtis Polk, an investor in 23XI Racing, Joe Gibbs Racing President Dave Alpern and RFK Racing President Steve Newmark. They spoke to a couple of media on Friday morning.
“We’ve gotten to this point where the teams realize we can’t keep going on — the sustainability of the teams in this sport is not very long-term unless we have a fundamental change in the model,” said Polk.
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The committee came up with a seven-point proposal as a solution which NASCAR rejected. Gordon said that NASCAR and the committee is “very far apart” in terms of their views. He also stressed that the model is not “sustainable” at present, citing that Hendrick Motorsports will not make a profit this season and hasn’t done so for “awhile”.
Polk called out the model as “broken” where the majority of the teams lose money.
“It became fundamentally clear to me that there is a total misalignment of interest, and as a result, the economic model is really broken for the teams,” Polk said.
Polk wants all teams to be able to compete for the Cup championship while making a reasonable profit at the same time.
NASCAR has come up with a response to the committee’s demands.
“NASCAR acknowledges the challenges currently facing race teams. A key focus moving forward is an extension to the Charter agreement, one that will further increase revenue and help lower team expenses. Collectively, the goal is a strong, healthy sport, and we will accomplish that together.”
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