Amid Dispute Over Charters, Is a Breakaway Series a Realistic Threat for NASCAR?

Although the Cup Series teams fall under the NASCAR umbrella, they may not agree on many things. Recently, the two parties have been arguing about charter terms. Ever since NASCAR inked a new TV deal worth $7.7 billion, teams have been hoping to get a piece of the pie. Especially considering that the media rights deal directly affects the charter agreement.

The charter system was put in place in 2016 to guarantee that a team will have a grid slot. When that happens, they will also be guaranteed a part of the race purse, especially since maintaining a race team is expensive. As the old deal is expected to expire this year, the teams and the governing body were already in conversation about the negotiations. Sadly, the latest news is that the negotiations have broken down and won’t start again for a while.

Could the dispute lead to the Cup teams forming their own series?

Theoretically speaking, the Cup Series teams are free to race for another series. However, that will probably only arise if the situation deteriorates even further. Of course, breaking away from NASCAR and forming a separate racing series with stock cars is easier said than done. The teams wouldn’t have considered such an option if they didn’t have any other choice. As it happens, the Cup teams want a fair share of NASCAR revenue. Additionally, they did not think that the TV deal was as lucrative as NASCAR expected.

Denny Hamlin was of the opinion that the governing body was using the media package as a stalling tactic. He mentioned on his podcast, “We tried to start these conversations two years ago and it’s just been delay, delay, delay. So now here we are at the end of the rope. Do I believe we are closer to a deal now than 12 months ago? I don’t think so.”

Again, one really has to wonder if the Cup teams will break away from NASCAR. They already allied together to form the Race Team Alliance, with the objective of looking out for themselves. In a strange way, this is kind of reminiscent of the Formula One Teams Association that formed all the way back in 2009.

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Formula One went through a similar situation once upon a time

Despite what some motorsport fans may think, F1 and NASCAR have shared some similar hurdles. The F1 teams and the main F1 body were at loggerheads for a very long time. Ahead of the 2009 British Grand Prix weekend, the Formula One Teams’ Association (FOTA) announced a breakaway series. This was supposed to kick off for the 2010 season, but a new Concorde Agreement managed to destabilize the plans.

FOTA was composed of 10 teams, like Ferrari, McLaren, Renault, BMW Sauber, and Red Bull Racing. Also joining them were Brawn GP, Williams, Force India, and Toro Rosso. Later on, Williams and Force India accepted the FIA’s conditions, losing their spots in FOTA. The whole thing began when the then-FIA president Max Mosley wanted to cut the team budgets. However, the F1 teams didn’t want to play ball, so the FIA announced a voluntary £40m budget cap for 2010.

Had teams accepted the budget cap, they would have had more technical freedom. However, FOTA refused and even rejected the FIA’s compromise. In the end, though, the 2010 Formula One season got off without a hitch, and the group was dissolved in 2014. However, the sport came very close to getting its own breakaway series far from Formula One. That being said, could the same thing happen in NASCAR? Only time will tell in the long run, and hopefully, things work out for the best.

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