At the Southern 500 Cup Series race last weekend, 23XI Racing investor Curtis Polk wore a curious sign on his back, which read:"Please don't ask me about my Charter. I don't want to disparage NASCAR and lose it." Polk's message was a shot at the anti-disparagement clause that could become part of the new deal.
“Yeah, it’s a threat," said Hamlin when asked about potential clause. "That’s if you speak negatively. If they don’t like what you say, yeah, they’re trying to reserve the right.”
Much of the finer details of NASCAR's ownership proposal are locked behind closed doors, but what's clear is that NASCAR and its teams have struggled to come to an understanding over a new charter deal for 2025. Denny Hamlin, co-owner of 23Xi Racing, has aggressively used his soapbox to become one of the most outspoken voices against some of NASCAR's proposals.
On Saturday morning the racing shoe finally dropped, as 23XI Racing released a statement announcing that it decided not to meet NASCAR's deadline — and, in doing so, refused to sign a new charter for the 2025 season that would be bound by the proposals.
Tensions have been high for a while, and were particularly obvious last weekend, when 23XI driver Tyler Reddick ended up winning the regular season title at Darlington. No one from NASCAR's leadership participated in the trophy ceremony. "You know, certainly, pretty disappointed to not see anyone from NASCAR present Tyler his trophy," said Hamlin. "That was a little disappointing.”
It's led to one of the Cup Series' most prominent teams — and most outspoken drivers, in Hamlin — publicly crusading against the sport's leadership. But Hamlin and Team 23XI's rejection of the charter has been its loudest protest yet. And it has drawn a deep line in the sand that other team owners were not willing to cross.
23XI's statement and a line in the sand
As part of its refusal to sign a team charter on NASCAR's mandated timeline, 23XI Racing released a statement that explains its position.
"23XI decided to not meet a NASCAR-imposed deadline last night to sign Charter agreements for its two cars for 2025-2031. 23XI's position, as stated in a letter to NASCAR, is that we did not have an opportunity to fairly bargain for a new Charter contract. We notified NASCAR what issues needed to be addressed, in writing, at the deadline.
"We are interested in engaging in constructive discussions with NASCAR to address these issues and move forward in a way that comes to a fair resolution, while strengthening the sport we all love. At 23XI Racing, we remain committed to competing at the highest level while also standing firm in our belief that NASCAR should be governed by fair and equitable practices."
It's obvious that the team co-owned by Michael Jordan and Hamlin feels it has enough leverage to demand changes. But these are uncharted waters for NASCAR, and it's not clear where 23XI or NASCAR's leadership go from here. The two sides seem far apart, judging by media day interviews on Wednesday in which Hamlin indicated that "they keep going in the wrong direction" in negotiations.
Denny Hamlin and the "one-sided" deal
"There’s probably a handful of teams that are just happy to take any deal that they can get, and there’s others with some business sense that says this is unreasonable," added Hamlin.
Hamlin believes leadership just sees him “as a thorn in their side." He gave some more insight into the new deal, calling it "one-sided" in favor of the sanctioning body. "I made a good living in this as a NASCAR driver, and I chose to invest back in the France family and NASCAR," said Hamlin. "And they are yet to show me an opportunity where I’m going to get that back.”
FOX Sports journalist Bob Pockrass reported that Front Row Motorsports has also declined to sign the agreement, but there has been no official statement from FRM yet.
Speaking more on what this new deal could mean for the power structure within NASCAR, Hamlin added: "Who’s the jury, the judge and the executioner? It sounds like it’s all the same person. It’s never been the same person, but now they’re proposing that it is.”
