Last October, a group representing a negotiating team for Cup owners outlined its efforts to present NASCAR with changes to its business model, which were ultimately rejected by the sanctioning body.
The seven-point proposal – which the group declined to discuss in detail at the time – was offered up in anticipation of the upcoming expiration of current Cup Series charters and NASCAR’s current TV deal, which both end at the conclusion of the 2024 season.
The team said NASCAR offered a counter-proposal which included a “minimal increase in revenue and the emphasis was on cutting costs dramatically.”
“The dialogue continues between NASCAR and (the negotiating committee). A lot of the same issues are still the same issues we’re working through,” RFK Racing president Steve Newmark, a member of the negotiating team, told Motorsport.com.
“There is a model that works for everybody which actually helps take the sport to the next level. There’s just a lot of pieces and we have to figure out how to get there.
“The reason I have so much optimism that we can get a deal done is because the sport is growing. If we were in the situation like five years ago where the sport was stagnated, it might be more difficult to come up with a whole new paradigm.”
Newmark said an improved racing product combined with increased TV ratings in recent seasons should help produce a bigger media deal.
“The sanctioning body, the tracks, the teams, the drivers – you have to have all of them working together and rowing in the same direction,” he said. “The issue right now is the teams, from an economic perspective, are struggling. Our financial model doesn’t work but the sport is still thriving.
“Because of that we know there is a path forward to figure it out. It’s going to take a lot more work. It make take two steps backwards, one step forward. It’s not a lot different than what a lot of other sports have gone through.
“It’s just a little but more foreign to us because of the way this sport has been run for so long. It’s something I would definitely pay attention to in the next few weeks.”
In addition to Newmark, the other members of the negotiating team are Jeff Gordon, vice chairman and co-owner at Hendrick Motorsports, Dave Alpern, president of Joe Gibbs Racing; and Curtis Polk, Vice Chairman of Hornets Sports & Entertainment and part-owner of 23XI Racing.
