While it certainly is a big payout, NASCAR is an expensive business. Imagine shelling out $40 million for a charter, not knowing how long you can keep it. That’s the crux of the current tussle. NASCAR’s holding tight to its reins while teams scramble for enough dough to keep their cars in race shape. With the charter agreement set to expire this year—dictating how long teams can hold onto their charters to earn profits—everyone’s buzzing. But as per Dale Earnhardt Jr, running a racing team or driving isn’t seen as a cash cow by those behind the wheel.

Dale Earnhardt Jr asserts that racing does not earn money

Discussing Denny Hamlin’s point about tracks and NASCAR hogging the lion’s share of race earnings on Dale Jr Download, Junior laid it out flat: “You don’t make money racing anywhere. I would love to know where somebody is racing a race car and making money doing it.” He even used his own career as an example, from street stocks to Late Models and up through trucks and Xfinity, asserting he never made a dime directly from racing itself.

Junior continued, saying that every Cup team he’s known has been in the same boat and is not turning a profit. While he acknowledged that teams might believe that making money is possible and that they should aim for it, to him, the concept of profiting from racing is as bizarre as it gets. He bluntly added, “That’s so foreign to me, like f*cking making money? Junior was very clear: if you’re getting into racing, prepare to shell out cash, not rake it in.

Dale Earnhardt Jr isn’t too hopeful about racing teams turning a profit, but he admitted there might be a sliver of possibility. “I don’t know if it’s even realistic for the teams to think that they can even get profitable but maybe they could. I mean we break even here. I’m not saying we’re losing money; we break even running in the Xfinity Series. So, I think breaking even and making money in the Cup series is realistic. But I’ve always known and accepted that racing as an owner was a difficult thing financially,” he explained.

From a business perspective, when Michael Jordan and his business partner, Curtis Polk, decided to dive into NASCAR in 2020 with Denny Hamlin, they knew it wouldn’t be all smooth sailing financially in the beginning. They were betting on it. Yet they were hopeful that NASCAR’s growth potential for a resurgence in TV viewership and event attendance – while unlikely to reach the highs of the past – would gradually improve.

So far, they’ve been right about the trends, but turning a profit is still a challenge. The big hurdle, according to them, is NASCAR’s hesitance to distribute more of its increasing revenue among the teams, including Jordan’s 23XI Racing. And if not appropriately addressed, businesses might even lose interest in NASCAR. Jordan bluntly stated, “If our ownership in NASCAR is losing money and NASCAR’s the only one making money, that’s not a good partnership.” That is why Denny Hamlin said that it could spell trouble for everyone if things don’t change.

Per Denny Hamlin, teams may take harsh action if the charter agreement fails to provide a middle-ground

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In a chat with Dale Earnhardt Jr on his podcast, Denny Hamlin didn’t hold back on the current tensions between NASCAR and its racing teams. He highlighted that while everyone else seems to be making money, the teams are struggling. They’ve got a wishlist for NASCAR that includes better financial support, permanent charters, more influence over NASCAR decisions to manage unexpected costs, and a share in profits from new business avenues.

Despite NASCAR landing a lucrative new TV deal last November, there’s still a tug-of-war about the duration of charters. Hamlin, clearly fed up with such things, issued a stark warning: “It would be ignorant of fans to say, ‘Well that’s great, no charters. ‘Well, then we just wouldn’t show up when we don’t need to. The Clash, we won’t show up at that; the All-Star Race, we wouldn’t show up at that. Maybe there are some races that pay less, we just won’t show up to those. It’s just not financially good.”

While not all teams might be ready to take such drastic steps, powerhouses like Hendrick Motorsports and Joe Gibbs Racing could potentially rally behind Hamlin’s bold stance.