“I cannot believe this came down the way it did.” The anti-climactic result of the two-year-long charter battle has Dale Earnhardt Jr. at his wit’s end, too. The Race Team Alliance showed great promise at the beginning of this season, as a volley of 15 Cup Series teams stood up defiantly against NASCAR. However, it barely took eight months for that unity to fizzle out.

Now things have come to a head as Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan have risked their assets. Front Row Motorsports is an unlikely supporter in their protest. So despite understanding other teams’ acceptance of NASCAR’s terms, Dale Jr. feels the two lone teams are too alone on their boat.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. weighs in on both sides: NASCAR & Teams

The RTA’s vehement demands at the start of this season were glaringly visible. The teams seemed to hold one voice when they trumpeted their charter agreement goals. These included a greater revenue share, a seat in governance, and most importantly, making charters permanent. In February, the team executives invited NASCAR for a group discussion, which the sanctioning body glaringly refused to attend. Their plan of action was to ‘divide and rule,’ and it worked out spectacularly, according to Dale Earnhardt Jr. Despite his earlier support for NASCAR’s charter policy, now Junior cannot help but feel for 23XI Racing‘s dilemma.

Denny Hamlin, Michael Jordan, and Bob Jenkins are alone in refusing to sign NASCAR’s charter deal. On the September 11 episode of Dale Jr. Download, Dale Earnhardt Jr. whispered shock at the eroded unity, but he knows why. “I was really, really surprised that the teams split…If the teams were going to band together and really have leverage, they had to stay together…So when NASCAR started meeting them individually, that was going to erode the trust and confidence, and teamwork that the RTA had. And a lot of their leverage as a group went away.”

Despite his shock, Dale Earnhardt Jr. understood why the other teams yielded under NASCAR’s pressure. They thought that “it’s probably the best deal we’re ever going to get. NASCAR made it clear that that was the last, they were done negotiating…I feel like that’s expected, that’s part of the process. The deal is not eternity. You get an opportunity to negotiate this down the road. And the idea in my head is that every time it’s renegotiated, the teams will acquire more.” 

However, Dale Jr. continued his surprised tone about the teams’ quick decision to flip. “I thought that the teams would hold out longer. I was a bit surprised that they signed, didn’t see that coming.” Yet one of the team owners who signed this deal recently outlined his reason. It had been a long and tiring battle, and all he needed was some certainty.

How has the “need for stability” changed priorities?

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When you have hundreds of employees to feed in a burgeoning organization, you would easily accept averagely equitable deals. The RTA has been clamoring for a more agreeable charter deal for two years, but their opponent had one quality. NASCAR showed immense patience, knowing ultimately that most teams would accept whatever the 76-year-old racing series would offer them.

So after teams signed the deal with a 6-hour ultimatum last Friday, it was the result of months of waiting and helplessness. That is what Rick Hendrick implied when he said he was “tired” of the lengthy negotiations.

At a news conference to announce Kyle Larson’s run at the 2025 Indy 500 race, Hendrick heaved a tired sigh at the two years’ worth of draining deliberation. “I think we worked really hard for two years and it got down to, you’re not going to make everybody happy. And I think it got down to, I was just tired. Not everybody was happy. But in any negotiation, you’re not going to get everything you want, and so I felt it was a fair deal and we protected the charters, which was number one, we got the [revenue] increase, I feel a lot of things we didn’t like we got taken out, so I’m happy with where we were.”

Additionally, Brad Keselowski also mentioned his reason for signing the deal: he sounded not “forced” but helpless. Brad said, “We are getting to a spot where it’s important to get these things settled,” Keselowski stated in an interview with Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports (below).” Further balancing his emotions, the RFK Racing co-owner also said, “Certainly, respect their [23XI, FRM] decision-making ability…You know, for us, we felt it was right to do a deal and move forward.”

So Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s stifled plea for unity lay shattered right there. Yet Denny Hamlin and FRM’s continued disapproval continues this debate, leaving fans hanging at where this storyline will end.