Category: friday feature

By David G. Firestone

So I’m back this week, this time with NASCAR news to catch up on. I would have discussed the ending to the Martinsville race, but with everything that happened between then and now, I just didn’t have the energy. I will discuss my thoughts a little later in this column. Anyway, on to NASCAR news.

Our first two stores are about Bobby Allison. The first is the announcement made on October 23, when a decision was made about the NASCAR Cup Series Myers Brothers Memorial at Bowman Gray Stadium on August 6, 1971. To understand the circumstances behind this race, I quote Wikipedia:

“Because of reduced sponsorship money being given out by the “Big Three” automobile companies in Detroit, NASCAR decided to hold six of their smaller Winston Cup Series races in conjunction with the “minor league” NASCAR Grand American Series.

As Bobby Allison was not racing in a Grand National car, he never received credit in that series but was credited with a Grand American Series (“pony” cars) win. Vehicles that competed at the Grand American series were in Chevrolet Camaros, Ford Mustangs and AMC Javelins as opposed to their full-sized equivalents from their manufacturers.[8] NASCAR rules for combination races, which were in effect for Riverside and other West Coast races where the West Series raced with the Cup Series, and later used by other multiple-division races in NASCAR, state each division is scored separately, similar to rules used in the NASCAR-owned International Motor Sports Association sports car racing series. Under current rules, Richard Petty would be credited with a Grand National Series win.”

Well the decision was made to give Bobby Allison the win, 53 years later. According to NASCAR.com:

“NASCAR today announced its recognition of Bobby Allison as the official winner of the NASCAR Cup Series Myers Brothers Memorial at Bowman Gray Stadium on August 6, 1971. The NASCAR record books have been updated to reflect Allison in sole possession of fourth place on the all-time Cup Series wins list with 85 wins.

“For 53 years, the Myers Brothers Memorial was the only race run by NASCAR that did not have an official winner,” said Jim France, NASCAR chairman and CEO. “As we began preparations for the upcoming Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium, the topic of that August 6, 1971 race returned to the forefront. We felt it was the right thing to officially recognize Bobby’s win and honor him as an 85-time NASCAR Cup Series winner. We are grateful for Bobby’s lifetime contributions to NASCAR.”

The timing of this would turn out to be perfect, since, on November 9th, Bobby Allison would die at the age 86. Obviously, the loss of a legend hit the series and the fans very hard. For me, it’s kind of tough to swallow for many reasons. The older I get, the more pass away. It’s hard accepting the fact that you are mortal, but we all have to.

Our next two stores focus on sponsors ending their sponsorships of NASCAR. At the end of the 2020 season, GEICO ended their part of the NASCAR Cup Series premier sponsorship. According to Sports Business Journal, the deal was GEICO paying low seven figures. A change in the marketing strategy and departments was cited for the end.

GEICO really isn’t a big loss. Even with the amount they were paying, they weren’t really interested in promoting the sport. They really weren’t interested in using NASCAR to promote their product. Outside of their name on the NASCAR Cup Series logo, and their name on the restart zone, what did they do to promote NASCAR? I’m really asking. GEICO has a seemingly unlimited advertising budget, but the fact that they didn’t use NASCAR to promote their product, well, that says a lot. Goodbye and good luck!

In related news, it was announced on Monday that FedEx will end their 20 year long sponsorship of Denny Hamlin’s #11 Toyota Camry. As Denny put it:

“It’s really hard to put into words because I got to know so many of the employees, so many of the executives over 20 years. I bleed purple. Every time that a FedEx truck goes by, my kids are yelling, ‘Daddy.’ That’s some of that brand awareness that I hear from fans, as well. Whether they are going to be on my racecar in the future or not, doesn’t matter, I’m still going to be a part of the purple family.”

We live in an era where sponsorship money is getting much harder to come by. Teams are increasingly reliant of sponsors to keep the lights on, especially with NASCAR making the decisions they do. The loss of a long-time sponsor can hurt, if not kill a team. I feel for Denny, but I also know that for a championship caliber driver, these problems can take care of themselves. I have no doubt he will land on his feet, and the team will have a full sponsorship for 2025 and beyond.

So, a few weeks ago, I discussed a situation in IndyCar where an employee stole intellectual property from one team and illegally gave it to another. Well, now it’s NASCAR’s turn. Though nothing concrete has been reported as of yet, it appears that a current engineer for Joe Gibbs Racing has committed the exact same offense.

According to an Associated Press article by Jenna Fryer:

“NASCAR has acknowledged it is aware of allegations that an engineer for a Cup Series team accessed proprietary information and shared it with another team.

The stock series released no details about the allegations because neither team has filed a complaint with NASCAR. But a series spokesman confirmed to The Associated Press at Charlotte Motor Speedway over the weekend it is aware of a brewing scandal between the two teams.

The engineer is in a contract year with Joe Gibbs Racing, according to executives with six teams who spoke with the AP on condition of anonymity because the details are considered private and have not been disclosed publicly. Joe Gibbs Racing, which has two cars still competing for the Cup title, declined to comment.

The engineer had been exploring options with other teams as the season draws to a close, multiple team officials told the AP on Sunday, confirming they discussed possible employment.

NASCAR acknowledged to AP it has heard that one team — with no cars in the playoffs — paid the engineer cash in exchange for setup information.”

If these accusations are true, and at this point, there is no concrete evidence to say for sure, whoever this small team is, they are in a lot of trouble. Any team that is willing to bribe an engineer for another team for setup information should not only be legally charged, but banned from participating in NASCAR forever. Remember, the FBI raided Rahal Letterman Lanigan for the exact same thing! You think that the FBI won’t get involved for a NASCAR team?

It boggles my mind that anyone thinks that trying this strategy will work. The FBI is smarter than you are, and they have more skills and resources than you do! Look at former Senator Bob Menendez. Look at Martin Shkreli. Look at Bernie Madoff. Look at everyone who thought they had the power to fool the system, and got caught. Now look at yourself…do you really think you can win here? The FBI can and will find evidence, and you will go down. I hope whatever you got out of this deal was worth losing everything, because that can and will happen.

Now we get to the end of the Martinsville race. First, let me discuss Christopher Bell’s move at the end of the race. Bell got put into the corner during the end of the race, and gunned the engine while on the wall. AT the end of the race, a discussion was held by NASCAR officials who determined that the move constituted a “wall ride” made famous by Ross Chastain in 2022, and banned thereafter.

The decision made was that Bell was trying to wall ride to get into the playoffs. As a result, Bell was removed from the playoffs, and William Byron was the fourth driver in the championship four. This was followed by an outcry from the fans about the way the situation was handled.

Here’s my take: The move Bell did could easily have been interpreted as a wall ride. He knew it was illegal, and why it was illegal. I get that he had a lot to lose, and he lost a lot. However rules are rules. Every driver and team needs to remember, you want to play in it, but at the end of the day, it’s NASCAR’s sandbox. It’s NASCAR’s sandbox, they make the rules. If they decide that you broke the rules, you broke the rules. You are one driver, and they will protect the sport over you. Life sucks, get used to it.

The first part of the story was announced by NASCAR:

“NASCAR has announced penalties following the Xfinity 500 NASCAR Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway on Sunday.

The crew chiefs, spotters, and a team executive from the teams of #1-Ross Chastain, #3-Austin Dillon, and #23-Bubba Wallace have each been suspended for the Phoenix race following the team’s actions as the end of the Martinsville race. In addition each team and driver have been fined $100,000 and assessed a 50 point penalty.

Rule book section 4.4 B&D are as follows:

B. Member actions that could result in a loss of 25-50 driver and/or Team Owner Points and/or $25,000-$50,000 fine. Violations may also result in Race suspension(s), indefinite suspension, or membership revocation:

-Physical confrontation with a NASCAR Official, media members, fans, etc.

-Attempting to manipulate the outcome of the Race or championship. [emphasis added]

-Intentionally damaging another vehicle on pit road.

-Wrecking or spinning another vehicle, whether or not that vehicle is removed from Competition as a result.

-Any actions deemed to compromise the safety of an Event or otherwise pose a dangerous risk to the safety of Competitors, Officials, spectators, or others.

D. Member actions that could result in a fine and/or indefinite suspension, or membership revocation:

-Actions by a NASCAR Member that NASCAR finds to be detrimental to stock car racing or NASCAR. [emphasis added]

-Statement and/or communication made public (including social media platforms) that demeans, criticizes, ridicules, or otherwise disparages another person based upon that person’s race, color, creed, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, religion, age, or handicapping condition.

-Member-to-Member confrontation(s) with physical violence (e.g. striking another Competitor) and other violent manifestations such as significant threat(s) and/or abuse and/or endangerment.

-Multiple violations of the Code of Conduct.

-Selling NASCAR Single Event Credentials (VIP Passes, Essential Worker Passes, etc.).

-Being charged with or convicted of significant criminal violations (e.g. Domestic Violence, Trafficking, Assault), or having had determinations rendered by criminal or civil authorities that in NASCAR’s judgment necessitate action. NASCAR will not pre-judge guilt or innocence in the criminal or civil legal system, or the guilt or innocence of the Member, but rather review each matter in its own context and circumstances and with regards to its potential effects upon the sport.

-Violations of NASCAR’s Sports Gambling Policy.”

On November 7, 2024 NASCAR made the following announcement:

“The National Motorsports Appeals Panel today heard and considered an appeal of a behavior penalty issued on November 5, 2024 to driver Ross Chastain, owner Justin Marks, Competition Executive Tony Lunders, spotter Brandon McReynolds and crew chief Phil Surgen in the NASCAR Cup Series.

The penalty concerns the following sections of the 2024 NASCAR Rule Book: Sections 4.4.B&D Member Code of Conduct. The penalty issued was a $100,000 fine to both the driver and owner; a loss of 50 driver and owner points; and a one-race suspension to the competition executive, crew chief and spotter.

Upon hearing the testimony, the decisions of the National Motorsports Appeals Panel are:

That the Appellants violated the Rule(s) set forth in the Penalty Notice.

That the Panel affirms and upholds the original Penalty assessed by NASCAR.

In reaching the above decision, the panel provided the following explanation: “We feel in the best interest of racing and to protect the integrity of the sport, it was appropriate to uphold and affirm NASCAR’s decision with regard to the NASCAR rule 4.4, attempting to manipulate the outcome of the race.”

The Appellant has the right to appeal the decision of the National Motorsports Appeals Panel to the National Motorsports Final Appeals Officer in accordance with the NASCAR Rule Book.”

While this might seem pointless, remember the 2013 Federated Auto Parts 500, aka “Spingate.” That is considered the biggest race-fixing scandal in NASCAR, and one of the biggest race-fixing scandals in this history of racing. Spingate caused the death of Michael Waltrip Racing, and Front Row Racing came off looking horrible as a result. NASCAR has to put safety and the integrity of the sport above all else. As such, NASCAR will take any accusation or suspicious activity very seriously. If you do something that falls in the realm of cheating, it will be considered cheating. If you give them rope, you will get hung. NASCAR does NOT need to look weak right now. As the saying goes: “You can’t get caught if you don’t cheat.”

With that, this week’s column comes to an end, and I will do something for next week, be it the anti-trust suit or otherwise.

Sources cited:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1971_Myers_Brothers_250

NASCAR officials award Bobby Allison with 85th Cup victory; legend now fourth on all-time win list

https://sports.yahoo.com/nascar-legend-bobby-allison-dies-at-86-001716069.html

GEICO to end Cup Series premier sponsorship

End of an era: Denny Hamlin reflects on 20 seasons with FedEx sponsorship

https://apnews.com/article/nascar-stolen-intellectual-property-428957bd87a87def4baf3b9c84a97e23

By David G. Firestone

So the last few weeks have been very hectic, and I simply didn’t have the time to devote to The Driver Suit Blog. I will be covering some of the stories that either happens, or ones that I haven’t gotten to for this week, except for the anti-trust suit, as I feel it deserves it’s own column. This week, non-NASCAR stories.

First is a Formula 1 story that, at least to me, makes no sense whatsoever. Back in September, FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem has banned F1 drivers from swearing during races. In explaining his reasoning, he stated the following:

‘We have to differentiate between our sport – motorsport – and rap music. We’re not rappers, you know. They say the F-word how many times per minute? We are not on that. That’s them and we are [us]. I know, I was a driver. In the heat of the moment, when you think you are upset because another driver came to you and pushed you. But also, we have to be careful with our conduct. We need to be responsible people. Because imagine you are sitting with your children and watching the race and then someone is saying all of this dirty language. I mean, what would your children or grandchildren say? What would you teach them if that is your sport?’

Known profanity enthusiast Max Verstappen was, well, less than enthusiastic over the new ban. “A lot of people say a lot of bad things when they are full of adrenaline in other sports, it just doesn’t get picked up,’ he said in the pre-Singapore Grand Prix press conference on Thursday. I couldn’t even say the f word… It’s not even that bad. What are we 5-year-olds, 6-year-olds? I guess the world is changing a bit, but I guess it already starts with no broadcasting it. Or, not giving the option for people to hear it in general. That would help a lot more than putting bans on drivers.”

I’m taking Verstappen’s side here. Drivers in F1 have so much to focus on while racing, that expecting them to “mind their language” while driving isn’t a smart move. Let them race, and if they get frustrated, it happens. Sometimes drivers curse. It happens.

I’m also sick of this whole “protect the children” bullshit that populates some areas of culture. I shouldn’t be expected to to change my life for your kids. Your children are YOUR problems, not mine, not ours, yours! You, as a parent, are responsible for everything they eat, read, play with, watch, or interact with until they reach adulthood. Stop expecting the rest of the world to do it for you!

Now sticking with something else Formula 1 does that makes no sense, we discuss 2025. Apparently, F1 is eliminating the fastest lap bonus point for the 2025 season. Why? Why would you eliminate a bonus point? I’m a proponent of bonus points, since they encourge drivers to push themselves to perform better. The more points, the better! Why not encourage drivers to succeed?

I was against the idea of the new NASCAR point system that eliminated the points for laps led. I was against the idea of the NHRA eliminating bonuses for setting speed and ET records. I’m against this too! Sanctioning bodies should encourage performances, since it gives drivers and fans a better experience! I don’t get this logic at all!

Speaking of not getting logic at all, let’s talk about IndyCar. Last year, the disastrous race at Thermal was introduced. The racing wasn’t great, the attendance was embarrassing, the purse was cut in half, and nobody, and I mean NOBODY thought this could get worse. The race was an embarrassment.

Well, Marshal Pruitt of Racer.com has discussed that IndyCar s making a return to Thermal in 2025. As Pruit discussed:

“The non-points $1 Million Challenge was a first for Thermal in two regards as network television was brought to the facility to broadcast the event, and with the need to include IndyCar’s followers in the venture, the circuit opened its gates to fans for the first time by making a maximum of 2000 tickets available for purchase.

Initially listed at $2000 apiece, few tickets were sold, but weeks prior to the event, a 75-percent price drop was applied as new sales went for $500 per ticket; those who bought tickets at the full $2000 level were refunded the $1500 difference.

Although attendance figures weren’t provided, an estimated daily crowd in the low hundreds was seen at the event, and with plenty of lessons taken from the experience, Thermal is targeting the sale of 5000 general admission tickets which RACER understands could be set at $450 apiece for the Friday-Sunday event set for March 21-23. If all are sold, it would allow the club to generate north of $2 million and cover most of the sanction fee paid to Penske Entertainment and other event-specific operating costs.”

To quote comedian and actress Jamie Andrews: “If at first you don’t succeed, WHY? WHY AGAIN?” Nobody liked this! Teams, drivers, fans, sponsors, EVERYONE HATED THIS! Why bring it back? You couldn’t sell over 1,000 tickets of the available 2,000, so why would you think you could sell 5,000? Is this really anything else more than a glorified tire test?

IndyCar has a number of issues, and this doesn’t help with their public image. I liked the idea of Penske taking over, and that I thought he would improve things. Looking at the totality, this was false hope! He took the worst race of 2024, and thinks bringing it back for 2025 will somehow work this time? Seriously?

The sad thing is that there is a lot of room for IndyCar to grow, but if they keep up on the current path, it will continue to shrink! I’ve seen the TV numbers! No growth is happening! It’s almost like IndyCar is following the AEW method of doing the same mistakes repeatedly, and expecting the fans to unconditionally support them! Well, if things keep going this way, they will lose, not grow. That’s just a fact.

Alright that’s enough for this week, next week, NASCAR stories.

Sources Cited:

Max Verstappen hits back after F1 drivers are given ‘swearing ban’ by FIA president

https://www.espn.com/f1/story/_/id/41850538/f1-scrap-fastest-lap-bonus-point-2025

https://racer.com/2024/10/24/plans-coming-together-for-full-indycar-race-at-thermal-club/

When it comes to Friday columns, I’m going to have to take a two-week break, as I have way too much to focus on at the moment. I hope I can come back sooner, but too much is going on right now. Paint Scheme Tracker and Paint Scheme Grades will continue as scheduled.

By David G. Firestone

So the big story coming from the Charlotte Roval is that Alex Bowman got disqualified following post-race inspection. After the disqualification, Bowman was eliminated from the round of 8, and replaced by Joey Logano. According to Brad Moran, managing director of the NASCAR Cup Series”

“Unfortunately, the 48 had an issue (and) did not meet minimum weight. We put the car to the side. We continued on. We … gave them the opportunity to fuel the car as well as purge the water system and add water. So we gave them every opportunity to make minimum weight. We ran them back through. Unfortunately, they were light again. They are allowed a 0.5% weight break, which is for usage of fluids and so on. That’s about 17 pounds. We backed the car back off the scales, ran it back on and then, unfortunately, it was the same weight. So the car had a weight issue. All the other cars cleared inspection. The 48 didn’t, and that ends up in a disqualification.”

Earlier in the race, Bowman hit one of the curbs, which sent his car airborne, and pieces clearly came off his car. He managed an 18th place finish prior to the inspection. Fans on Twitter have been discussing the series of events, and most are of the opinion that Bowman shouldn’t have been disqualified, given the circumstances, and I agree. NASCAR set up these curbs, and almost instantly they were causing issues. This was really a problem waiting to happen, and Alex Bowman was the unlucky victim.

NASCAR’s primary focus should be safety, and over 17 pounds of parts flying off a car after hitting a curb isn’t a safe thing at all. Other drivers, pit crew members, or officials could have been hurt. The risk to other drivers and fans was everpresent as well with that incident.

In a move that really doesn’t surprise me, Hendrick Motorsports decided not to appeal. In their official statement:

“Hendrick Motorsports will not appeal the disqualification of the No. 48 car following Sunday’s race at the Charlotte ROVAL. NASCAR allows a clear margin to account for the difference in pre- and post-race weight. After a thorough review by our team and the sanctioning body, we simply did not give ourselves enough margin to meet the post-race requirement. Although unintentional, the infraction was avoidable. We are extremely disappointed to lose a playoff spot under these circumstances and apologize to our fans and partners.”

It sucks that Bowman’s championship hopes ended this way, but it is what it is. Sometimes life just spits in your face, and you can’t wipe it off. We’ve got four more races, so lets see how this plays out.

Sources Cited:

https://www.nascar.com/news-media/2024/10/13/no-48-car-disqualified-after-roval-race-alex-bowman-will-not-advance/

By David G Firestone

I had something prepared for this week, but that’s getting pushed back to next week. Two things that I’ve previously talked about have had updates. First, Front Row Motorsports and 23XI Racing have jointly filed a lawsuit against NASCAR. According to The Athletic, Jayski and Fox Sports:

“Two NASCAR teams, including one owned by basketball icon Michael Jordan, accused NASCAR of being a monopoly in a joint antitrust lawsuit filed Wednesday morning in federal court.

23XI Racing, the team co-owned by Jordan and three-time Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin, joined with Front Row Motorsports to allege NASCAR and its CEO Jim France have used “anticompetitive and exclusionary practices” to “enrich themselves at the expense of the premier stock car racing teams.”

NASCAR did not offer an immediate comment as it is reviewing the filing.

The teams claim that while even the winningest organizations struggle to break even, NASCAR has unlawfully blocked the formation or growth of any other series — thus forcing competitors “to accept take-it-or-leave-it economic conditions” in order to participate.

The lawsuit seeks details from NASCAR and France “related to their exclusionary practices and intent to insulate themselves from any competition.” Jeffrey Kessler, a top antitrust attorney said he would ask for a preliminary injunction that will enable the two teams to compete in 2025 under the new charter agreement while the litigation proceeds.

The teams said they will seek treble damages for anti-competitive terms that have ruled the sport since the initial 2016 charter agreement.

In a teleconference Wednesday morning with reporters, Kessler said that this case has similarities with other sports antitrust litigation where a fundamentally unfair system has been created for the participants. But this case also has a major difference – the France family (one small group of individuals) controls NASCAR.

“There is no other major sport where one family has run that sport as its own personal fee stub and piggy bank the way that NASCAR has been run,” Kessler said.

“We will see what impact that has in terms of how they try to defend themselves. We will see what impact that has in terms of whether it’s possible to settle this case or whether we have to take it all the way through trial — either way, we’re prepared to do what’s necessary to effectuate change.”

Both teams said they would continue with their 2025 plans.”

We all saw this coming. We all knew it was going to come and it has. I’m actually shocked it took as long as it did. NASCAR strong arming the teams into signing the new deal was not a good look, and oh man, has it backfired. The charter system was doomed to fail, and NASCAR has made their teams into serfs.

I do not see NASCAR coming out on top here. There is more than enough evidence that NASCAR is a monopoly on American stock car racing. They pretty much control the stock car market in the US. Their big mistake is that they tried to bully Michael Jordan. Jordan has more money and power than many state governments, and he doesn’t take people disrespecting him. This is going to be a good fight. A lot of lawsuits like these get settled or end because one side, if not both, don’t have the funds to continue. With Jordan and NASCAR, this isn’t an issue. I’m going to invest in a few dozen boxes of popcorn to watch this match.

Speaking of watching matches, AEW and Warner Bros. Discovery announced Wednesday, that they had signed a new TV deal. In a press release, Warner Bros. Discovery said:

“Warner Bros. Discovery and All Elite Wrestling (AEW) today announced a multi-year renewal of their highly successful five-year relationship with an expansive multi-platform media rights agreement that will provide fans with the widest available access ever to AEW’s most popular programming.

WBD’s networks and platforms will remain the exclusive home of AEW Dynamite (Wednesdays on TBS) and AEW Collision (Saturdays on TNT), with enhanced distribution rights across social platforms as well as building opportunities for additional AEW programming for linear and digital platforms in the future.

Additionally, for the first time, all AEW Dynamite and AEW Collision programming starting January 2025 will stream live exclusively on Max (U.S. subscribers only). All AEW programming airing on WBD’s networks will also be available to stream on demand on Max.

AEW and WBD will also collaborate to distribute AEW live pay-per-view events on Max at a discounted price per event, with all marketing and promotions of those PPV events exclusively centered on Max. AEW PPV distribution on Max will begin later in 2025, with additional information and pricing to be shared in the coming months.”

Ok, this one I get. AEW isn’t getting what they were, but it isn’t a total loss, like moving to a streaming only platform. I did notice a little detail that wasn’t mentioned in the press release. AEW Dynamite will continue Wednesdays on TBS. AEW Collision will continute Saturdays on TNT. What about AEW Rampage? Is Rampage going away? If so, oh well. Let’s be honest, Rampage was always an afterthought when compared to Dynamite. It became even more of an afterthought when Collision came to be. Rampage never did ratings remotely comparable to Dynamite and Collision. So it seems that Rampage will go away, at least according to the press release. And nothing of value was lost.

Well like I said last time, if anything changes, I will discuss it later. Next week, a discussion about egos.

Sources Cited:

23XI Racing, Front Row Motorsports file lawsuit against NASCAR UPDATE 2

https://www.foxsports.com/stories/nascar/michael-jordan-23xi-racing-front-row-sue-nascar-charter-deal

Click to access 23XI-vs-NASCAR-Petition-KTT-WM.pdf

https://www.wbd.com/news/warner-bros-discovery-all-elite-wrestling-establish-new-era-professional-wrestling-multi-year

By David G. Firestone

I’ve got a couple of stories this week about IndyCar. Sadly, neither of them paints the series in a good light. Last week, I discussed the new NASCAR charter system, and the seemingly never-ending series of issues it seems to cause. It’s been like that since the beginning, and it just keep getting worse. It all came to a head when NASCAR pretty much strong-armed the teams into signing the new charter, which all but two teams did.

Well, what better time for IndyCar to announce their own charter system? On September 23, IndyCar announced the formation of a charter system. According to IndyCar.com:

“INDYCAR confirmed today the establishment of a charter system across the NTT INDYCAR SERIES. In total, owners of 10 teams have accepted charters for 25 entries competing in North America’s premier open-wheel racing series, beginning immediately.

“This is an important development that demonstrates an aligned and optimistic vision for the future of our sport,” Penske Entertainment Corp. President and CEO Mark Miles said. “I want to extend my sincere appreciation to our team owners for their collaboration and ideation throughout this process. Ultimately, we’re pleased to have a system in place that provides greater value for our ownership and the entries they field.”

This is the first charter system to be introduced in the history of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES. A chartered entry is guaranteed a starting position on the grid at all NTT INDYCAR SERIES races, excluding the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge. An entry also must be chartered to qualify for the annual NTT INDYCAR SERIES Leaders Circle program – an annual award program that compensates the 22 top finishers in the prior year’s NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship. The terms of the initial, long-term charter agreements are committed through the end of 2031.”

The next day, IndyCar also issued a self-asked “Q&A” about the system, but that really didn’t add much. Racer.com and Marshall Pruett actually gave some more information:

“The charter creates an exclusive club for the NTT IndyCar Series’ season-long entrants, the first of its kind for IndyCar — different to the franchise system from the former CART IndyCar Series — that provides its members with a range of benefits, including the ability to sell or seek investors in their charters.

Penske Entertainment retains permanent ownership of each of the 25 charters that were distributed. With its approval, which also includes receiving a percentage of any sales, Penske will welcome new entrants to the series, or the sale of charters from one member to another, which grants guaranteed participation in every IndyCar race for those who ‘own’ charters, barring the Indianapolis 500.

The structure is an important one for the 10 teams as each of their two to three charters bring a new monetary aspect to participation in the series. Prior to the charter, teams entered and left the series at will, and in the case of teams that were voluntarily shuttered or simply went out of business, they had nothing of significant value to sell, other than their cars and racing equipment, to recoup their losses or profit from on their way out of IndyCar.

As RACER has chronicled throughout the year, the charter — which runs through 2031 — uses a numerical structure of 25-22-3.

The number 25 was selected as the total amount of charters to be created. The number 22 refers to the decades-old Leaders Circle program, which pools the majority of each season’s prize money and splits it evenly across the top 22 entries in the annual Entrants’ championship. Where every team that participated in the most recent season was eligible to receive a $1 million Leaders Circle contract, only the teams with charters are capable of securing contracts starting in 2025.

Of the 25 charter entries, the top 22 will continue to get the $1 million contracts, leaving the three lowest charter entries on the outside of the Leaders Circle payouts; the process resets at the start of each new season.

The Leaders Circle program is not a profit-sharing system. Teams, despite receiving money from the series for being in the top 22, have had no ownership stake in Penske Entertainment to receive profits from, nor does the new charter program come with an ownership component within the company for the 10 teams.

A maximum of three charters per team have been released, with the results of the 2023 IndyCar Entrants’ championship results being used by Penske Entertainment to determine which teams and how many charters would be given to those teams.

The breakdown of charters per team starts with AJ Foyt Racing (2), Andretti Global (3), Arrow McLaren (3), Chip Ganassi Racing (3), Dale Coyne Racing (2), Ed Carpenter Racing (2), Juncos Hollinger Racing (2), Mayer Shank Racing (2), Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing (3), and ends with Team Penske (3).

The last number of interest is 27, which will be enforced starting next season as the new entry limit per race, except for the Indy 500, but RACER has confirmed the 27-car cap is not contained within the charter. If it had been included in the charter, Penske would have been obliged to honor that number through 2031.

By leaving it out and making it the domain of IndyCar’s sporting regulations, the series’ parent company has given itself the latitude reduce the cap in the coming years to no more than 25 cars — to match the number of charters – which is expected throughout the paddock.”

First off, the timing of this announcement could not have been worse, given the issues and “resolution” of the NASCAR Cup Series charter negotiations. Did this announcement really need to be announced when it was with all of this bullshit going on? You really couldn’t have waited a couple of weeks for the official announcement?

Second, does IndyCar see what is happening in the racing world and think “This idea suck, let’s make it worse?” I challenge anyone to find those in NASCAR who have anything good to say about the Charter system. It was a terrible idea, it was poorly implemented, and it didn’t really help the smaller teams, given how many charter teams have gone under since its inception. Even the top teams in the sport are struggling to turn a profit under the old system, and I fail to see this new charter having any other effects.

Except that the revinue-sharing aspect. Going back to the Racer.com article:

“The Leaders Circle program is not a profit-sharing system. Teams, despite receiving money from the series for being in the top 22, have had no ownership stake in Penske Entertainment to receive profits from, nor does the new charter program come with an ownership component within the company for the 10 teams.”

Unless there is some details which haven’t been made public as of the time of writing, there doesn’t seem to be any financial gain for the teams with this new charter system. I could be wrong here, and if I am, I apologize, but outside of some guarantee spots and something called the “NTT INDYCAR SERIES Leaders Circle program.” To quote another Marshall Pruett Racer.com article, this one from July:

“With Penske Entertainment’s guaranteed prize money distribution system — one that was devised in the mid-2000s by the Hulman George family, the former owners of the series — the top 22 entries in the final standings are eligible to receive the contracts worth approximately $1 million apiece.

The Leaders Circle structure limits eligibility to a maximum of three cars per team, which only affects the five-car Chip Ganassi Racing squad, so outside of CGR’s No. 4 entry for Kyffin Simpson and the No. 11 for Marcus Armstrong, its other three entries, along with the full-time cars at IndyCar’s nine other teams, are in play for those 22 payouts next year.”

Again, unless there is something I’m missing here, there really isn’t that much to gain from this new charter, except guaranteed entries to races. So what’s the point? Remember that of the 25 charted cars, only 22 can be part of the Leaders Circle, so three teams are getting hung out to dry. Also the guaranteed entry into the Indy 500 doesn’t really make sense, since it’s rare that any of the top teams fail to qualify. So, again I ask, what’s the point here? If there is some financial gain from this system I could agree with it, but the one thing that makes the most sense seems to be absent. I hope that I’m wrong, but this makes no sense.

Speaking of bad press and bad looks, IndyCar was also dealing with more serious issues. On September 18, 2024, The FBI raided the headquarters of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing shop in Zionsville, Indiana. According to Marshall Pruett and Racer.com:

“The Federal Bureau of Investigation dispatched agents to the Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing shop in Zionsville, Indiana on Wednesday morning.

The FBI is alleged to have instructed employees within RLL to leave their computers and related electronic devices in place, gather their belongings, and depart the building as agents began an investigation.

The source of the investigation is alleged to involve a former employee of the Andretti Global IndyCar team, who left the team to join RLL in a senior engineering role, and the alleged transfer of intellectual property from their former team to their current team.

“We are cooperating fully with investigators,” said the team in a statement issued on Wednesday evening. “Given that this is an ongoing investigation, we are limited in what information we can share right now, but we intend to provide additional information as soon as we can.”

The FBI is also alleged to have visited the Andretti shop in August to look for proof of possible IP-related improprieties.”

If all of this is true, and given the fact that there is clearly enough evidence for a search warrant to be issued here, Rahal Letterman Lanigan is in deep shit right now. If there is enough evidence that this employee did transfer confidential information, then there are serious charges a coming! The team isn’t in the clear, since this information was uploaded to their computers. Personally, if I were a member of Rahal Letterman Lanigan, I’m sweating bullets right now. If I’m a sponsor, I’ve got more than a few questions. I think there may be serious issues a coming, and IndyCar does NOT need any more bad looks right now.

But this also brings to mind the moronic idea of banning non-compete clauses. This is why. An employee got fired from one race team, stole confidential information, and brought it with them, and uploaded it after getting hired by another team. This is the exact reason a non-compete exists in this day in age. Companies are really worried about the security of their information and intellectual properties, and a situation like this is proof.

The FTC and their chair Lina M. Khan stated the following for the ban:

“Noncompete clauses keep wages low, suppress new ideas, and rob the American economy of dynamism, including from the more than 8,500 new startups that would be created a year once noncompetes are banned. The FTC’s final rule to ban noncompetes will ensure Americans have the freedom to pursue a new job, start a new business, or bring a new idea to market.”

I get FTC Chair Khan’s reasoning. But if individuals have access to top level information, not meant to be seen by the competition, this approach could do more harm than good. I really think that this story will be interesting, and I’m going to follow this as it happens.

With that, I’m done for the week, and I’ve got some stuff for next week.

Sources Cited:

https://www.indycar.com/News/2024/09/09-23-Charters

https://www.indycar.com/News/2024/09/09-24-Charter-QA

https://racer.com/2024/09/23/indycar-charter-program-launches-after-final-team-owners-sign/

https://racer.com/2024/07/19/indycar-leaders-circle-race-heating-up/

https://racer.com/2024/09/18/fbi-agents-carry-out-operation-at-rll-headquarters/

https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2024/04/ftc-announces-rule-banning-noncompetes

My Thoughts On The Current NASCAR Cup Charter Situation

By David G. Firestone

Well, the NASCAR charter fiasco has reached its peak. On September 7, NASCAR presented its final charter offer. According to Jayski and Sports Business Journal:

“The term of the charter agreement is for seven years starting in 2025 and commensurate with NASCAR’s new media rights deals that begin next year, meaning teams who signed on did not get the permanency of the system they had been negotiating for in recent years. Teams are getting more revenue as part of the deal, which stems from NASCAR getting a 40% increase in its media rights agreements worth $7.7B. For example, the last-place charter got around $4-5M annually in the old charter agreement from 2016-24, while that will go up to around $8.5M in the new version from 2025-31, people familiar with the matter said.”

NASCAR then gave the teams an ultimatum to sign the new deal. Of the 15 teams, 13 signed the charter. Some were happier than others, but most realized, in the words of Justin Marks:

“It’s been kind of a living document that has changed a lot as these conversations have taken place. But for me, and I can only speak for me, in the back of my mind, if they don’t put a deadline on it — well, the deadline is when we go racing next year — if the day doesn’t come when finally someone goes ‘we’re done here and we’ve taken as long as we need,’ then it will never come and it will never end. So me, personally, as we’ve had these conversations, I was anticipating the day that NASCAR would come and say ‘this is it. We’re done. We’ve addressed all these issues and you know where we won’t move, we’ve agreed on 90 percent or 75 percent of it (so) it’s time to get this thing done and start building our future together.

I think everyone can interpret it in their own way,” Marks said. “For me, regardless of how you want to build a narrative around it. Ultimately, it’s NASCAR’s sport and they said, ‘We are done negotiating here, this is the deal, it’s not going to change.’

“Ultimately, we had to make a decision and I looked at that and I said, ‘I’m not going anywhere so we’re going to sign it.’ You can interpret that anyway you want. Every team and team owner has their own relationship with NASCAR and mine, the philosophy of mine is always coming from a place of partnership and collaboration so I don’t necessarily feel like it was that way.

Rick Hendrick had this to say:

“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,” Hendrick said. “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.”

The two holdouts who didn’t sign were 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports. For some reason, these two teams think they can hold out for better terms. Why? I have no idea. 23XI is owned, in part, by Michael Jordan. Say what you want about Jordan, but you can’t argue he doesn’t know how to negotiate. He also has the star power of Bubba Wallace, Tyler Reddick, and co-owner Denny Hamlin. Them holding out could work, since they do have star power.

Front Row is a different story entirely. In the Cup Series, they have a total of four wins in their entire existence since 2005. To put that in perspective, Tyler Reddick has four wins for 23XI Racing in the last two years. Front Row is not a powerhouse team by any definition. What makes this strategy even more perplexing is that Front Row is trying to buy a charter from Stewart-Haas. I can’t see this working out to well for them.

Front Row has no leverage whatsoever. 23XI has some leverage, but with 13 teams signing the agreement, they don’t have as much as they think. The other teams realized that this had to end at some point, and signed the deal. NASCAR strong-armed their teams into signing. While this isn’t a great look, they really didn’t have any other options. It is what it is really.

Realistically, this was the only outcome. Everyone was tired, everyone was at the end of their rope, and the outcome was, well, meh. Sometimes the best outcome is just a stalemate.

If anything changes, I will talk about it next week. If not, I will probably discuss the Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing situation. We’ll just wait and see.

Sources Cited:

Is a charter agreement imminent? UPDATES

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Articles/2024/09/08/nascar-charter-23xi-racing-front-row-motorsports?publicationSource=weekendrap&issue=02e4f665af3748efb18a8d38d8c2fe5a

Rick Hendrick, Justin Marks comment on charter agreement

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Articles/2024/09/06/nascar-cup-series-charter-update?publicationSource=sbd

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Articles/2024/09/03/nascar-looking-to-wrap-up-charter-negotiations?publicationSource=sbd&issue=ffc261c61ff24ea88d1cf1f13295b2e4

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/23XI_Racing

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Front_Row_Motorsports

By David G. Firestone

So for this week, I’m going to discuss the upcoming 2025 NASCAR Cup Series schedule. There are a few changes, which are, according to Wikipedia:

“-The Busch Clash will move to Bowman Gray Stadium in 2025, replacing the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. It will be the first NASCAR Cup Series race held at the track since 1971.
-Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez will host a points paying race, becoming the first points paying Cup race outside the US since 1958. Richmond Raceway will lose a date to accommodate this change.
-The races at Gateway Motorsports Park, New Hampshire Motor Speedway, and the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway, will be added to the playoff schedule. As part of this schedule change, Watkins Glen International, Homestead–Miami Speedway, and the Quaker State 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, will move to the regular season.
-The Quaker State 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway will be the opening race for the new NASCAR in-season tournament.”

I’ve discussed how much I love the idea of Bowman Gray hosting the Busch Clash and how I think it should lead to historical tracks hosting the Clash. I’d also like to see something like this in both the Xfinity Series and Truck Series. I hope this goes forward.

I like the dea of Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez hosting a points paying race, however I think that Richmond should have been kept on, and a different track, preferably a 1.5 mile track been removed. I hope this may also extend into Canada.

I will discuss my feelings on the Chicago Street Race on a latter date.

With the good out of the way, now let’s about this bullshit “tournament.” Here is how this tournament will “work” as explained by Wikipedia:
-“The NASCAR In-Season Tournament is an upcoming multi-phase tournament that will be conducted among drivers in the NASCAR Cup Series. It is scheduled to debut in the 2025 season.

-Format

-The tournament will consist of eight races.

-For the first three races, all full-time drivers in the series are eligible to compete. Race winners will automatically qualify for the bracket, and be joined by the drivers with the best finish in any of the three races, with ties to be broken by total race points. The 32 drivers with the best performances move on to the next phase of the tournament. The seeding races will be streamed on the new package to be shown on Amazon Prime Video.
The last five races will be conducted in a single elimination bracket. In each round, the driver in each match-up with the better finish advances, while the other is eliminated. This process will continue until only two drivers remain; the driver with the better finish in that race will be the tournament champion and win a $1 million bonus. All of these races will be shown on TNT.

-In 2025, the first race of the bracketed portion will be held at Atlanta Motor Speedway on June 28.

-The In-Season Tournament will be the second $1 million bonus event in the Cup Series, joining the NASCAR All-Star Race.”

First off, moving to Amazon Prime is going to cost NASCAR a lot. A lot in terms of viewers lost, money lost, sponsorship lost, and fans lost. If you are going to try something this audacious, why not have it on actual TV. This is another example of NASCAR focusing on what they want, as opposed to what they have. This will not go over well with the NASCAR fan base. I have no confidence in Amazon Prime Video for NASCAR.

Second, while I get the bracket format, it works for the playoffs. This random tournament, with nothing on the line except money isn’t really good. Especially the 1v1 format of the last five races. 10 drivers, 1v1 elimination, until two drivers are left. Why not have the same bracket as the playoffs?

Here’s my idea: I like the general idea of how to qualify: For the first three races, all full-time drivers in the series are eligible to compete. However, I would only have the top 20 drivers in points, all arranged by points, both regular and playoffs.

From there, I would do this: 5 races, top 20 drivers in points, all arranged by points, both regular and playoffs. Each race, the bottom 4 drivers get eliminated. 4 races, 16 drivers eliminated. Last race, highest finishing driver wins. There is no reason you need 32 drivers in a single-elimination bracket. If we have to actually do this horseshit, why not make it simple. Make it easy to follow.

Also, shouldn’t there be something more than money as a prize? I’d add some points to the mix. Other than that, there really isn’t much on the line. Realistically, there isn’t any reason this has to happen to begin with, but at least make it worth the effort. Money and points, at least that gives incentive. I just don’t get this at all.

I’ve at least praised IndyCar for moving from NBC to FOX in 2025! That was a smart move! The Peacock-only races are not doing well, and fans are not happy, so this is an improvement. NASCAR is taking a major step back, and IndyCar is taking a major step forward.

To top all of that off, since I have Directv, I can’t watch F1, since it’s on ESPN, and Directv and ABC are in a pissing match. It’s just not a good time to be a racing fan!

With that, I’ll be back next week.

Sources Cited:

https://www.jayski.com/nascar-cup-series/2025-nascar-cup-series-schedule/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025_NASCAR_Cup_Series
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASCAR_in-season_tournament

Normal content will resume next week.