The last seven days have been quite eventful in the NASCAR world. Tyler Reddick won the 2024 Cup Series regular-season championship as he made history with 23XI Racing. While Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan’s team celebrated their success, NASCAR has put a dent in their celebrations. With the latest update on the charter negotiations, the 23XI Racing co-owners have revolted strongly against the governing body. Unfortunately, it has left Bubba Wallace worried.

The charter negotiations have been stretched way too long for anyone’s liking. While both teams and NASCAR would have appreciated closing the matter, seeing eye to eye has been a challenge. Surprisingly, the ruling body took a bold step this week to end the negotiations. Safe to say, the decision has not bode well with Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan.

Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan’s strong stance against NASCAR leaves Bubba Wallace’s future unsecured

With the 2024 Cup Series playoffs set to start on Sunday in Atlanta, NASCAR has been keen on closing the charter negotiations. In line with this, the governing body sent teams a proposal last week and set Friday as the deadline to respond. As reported by The Athletic, team owners and executives met on Tuesday to review the proposal.

Several teams looked interested in finalizing the deal despite not every team being on board with it. Interestingly, NASCAR’s latest offer came with a threat of any holdouts losing their existing charters should they not accept the offer. Naturally, the risk of losing their charter valued at around $30 to $50 million for nothing persuaded most teams to sign the deal.

However, 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports seem to have stood against accepting it. It is no secret how Denny Hamlin has candidly expressed his unhappiness with the charter deal on multiple occasions. The friction between Hamlin and NASCAR was only fueled when no NASCAR representative turned up to award Tyler Reddick his regular-season title trophy on Sunday at Darlington.

While Denny Hamlin deemed the act a little disappointing, the latest charter offer seems to have triggered 23XI Racing badly. Despite rejecting NASCAR’s offer, Hamlin’s team remains open to engaging in constructive discussions. While it remains uncertain if NASCAR will entertain this rebellious act from 23XI Racing, it has left Bubba Wallace worried for his Cup Series future.

Wallace faced disappointment last Sunday as he missed out on the playoffs. With Reddick winning the regular season championship, it certainly builds more pressure on the Alabama-born driver. Naturally, he looked stressed out before the race in Atlanta on Sunday. Speaking to the media, Bubba Wallace expressed his frustration with the charter negotiation deal.

He said, “My process has been going hand-in-hand with the charter agreement, so it’s frustrating to see where we’re at because that impacts my life and livelihood and everything moving forward for my future.” Wallace’s contract extension is yet to place and with 23XI Racing laying out a strong stance against NASCAR, it ain’t getting closed any soon.

While it is worrying for Bubba Wallace, the fans showed little sympathy with him in this case.

NASCAR fans slam Bubba Wallace as uncertainty looms over his 23XI Racing future

At the moment, nothing is certain when it comes to 23XI Racing. What Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan have done with their rebellion is an unchartered territory for NASCAR. While it is going to be interesting to see how the governing body deals with this, it leaves a lot of questions unanswered. Naturally, because of this, movement in any regard looks unlikely from a team’s perspective, including Bubba Wallace’s contract extension.

It is no secret that Wallace has struggled to perform well consistently in the Cup Series. Missing out a place in the playoffs definitely looks like a big blow now. With his frustrations about the charter deal, the fans couldn’t hold back their disappointment with him. Naturally, they slammed him for multiple reasons on social media.

One fan on Twitter said, “He is not a champion caliber driver. He can whine all he wants. Just not good enough. Hell, half the 16 drivers aren’t championship material.” Another fan added, “Well he’s been over paid for his results in his career so hopefully he’s out those millions to good investment.” While the fans criticized his performances, they also ridiculed him for making things about him.

One fan said, “Always all about him.” Another one said, “Every time he talks its always negative.” At the same time, some fans empathized with Bubba Wallace. A fan highlighted, “He sounds a little worried. He might be on the CARS Tour next year.” Another fan criticized Denny Hamlin for Wallace’s situation. He said, “You are not a good team owner if you jeopardize the career of your driver in the pursuit of power such as Denny Hamlin is.”

For the time being, nothing can be predicted. So it is understandable why Bubba Wallace is worried, especially with a baby arriving in October. That said, Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan cannot be blamed either. Unless and until NASCAR brings more clarity toward the charter negotiations, their hands remain tied in moving forward with any major decision.