Screw qualifying drama, NASCAR’s charter system is a necessary step
When NASCAR abolished the top 35 rule for the 2013 Sprint Cup Series season, the rule’s removal was hailed as a win for the sport’s fans. Instead of the 35 best teams having guaranteed starting positions for each race, qualifying was once again close to a free-for-all. Unless you were one of the lucky teams and drivers to have a guaranteed provisional, there was a chance (even if it was microscopic) you could miss the race.
“This is a big win for our fans,” then-NASCAR vice president of competition Robin Pemberton said in an October 2012 release announcing the qualifying change. “They’ll see the fastest cars earn their starting spots. This change adds intrigue, drama and excitement to qualifying.”
If you hated the top 35 rule, we have some unfortunate news for you. It’s back with the announcement of the new ownership structure in the Sprint Cup Series.
The charter system formally put in place Tuesday gives 36 teams “charters.” Those transferable charters come with guaranteed entry into every Sprint Cup race and went to every team that’s competed full-time on the circuit for the last three seasons.
[Related: Here’s who has guaranteed starting spots in NASCAR’s new ownership structure]
“The new Charter program strengthens each of our businesses individually and the team model as a whole, which is good for NASCAR, our fans, drivers, sponsors and the thousands of people who we employ,” Chip Ganassi Racing co-owner Rob Kauffman said in a statement. “This will give us more stability and predictability, and it will allow us to take a more progressive, long-term approach to issues.
“NASCAR and the teams share a desire to preserve, promote and grow the sport and ultimately produce great racing for our fans and partners. These common goals served as the foundation for discussions and helped bring us to this unprecedented agreement. This is a great step forward for the entire sport made possible by Brian France setting a new course for the NASCAR industry and the owners coming together on shared issues. Everyone involved then compromised a bit to be able to come up with something that worked for all.”
You’ll notice that Kauffman also says the charter is a win for the fans, despite the new structure being very similar to what wasn’t a win for the fans before 2012. But there are some key differences. Don’t get the hate-meter revved up in the slightest.
First, there’s really no drama in qualifying any longer. As part of the agreement, Sprint Cup fields will be 40 instead of 43. But with the consolidation of teams (Front Row and BK Racing are fielding one fewer full-time car in 2016 and Michael Waltrip Racing is gone entirely), there’s a chance 43-car fields wouldn’t be full at times this season. Don’t get upset because there are three fewer starting spots moving forward.
Entry lists weren’t exactly overflowing in 2015 anyway. No one failed to qualify at five races while more than two cars failed to qualify nine times. There was more drama involved in the Team XXXtreme hauler disappearance than there was about worrying who would qualify every weekend.
A major reason for the smaller entry lists was how NASCAR ownership was structured. Like all other major sports, NASCAR’s value has skyrocketed over the past 20 years. But that value for teams has been reflected in infrastructure and resources, or in the case of owners like Rick Hendrick and Roger Penske, what their automotive interests outside of racing can do for sponsors looking to spend.
If an owner wants to get out of the ownership game in a stick-and-ball sport, he’s looking at a monstrous profit. If a NASCAR owner wants to stop racing, the equipment he puts up for sale is sold at a fraction of the overall cost.
The transferable charter system is a guaranteed value system of sorts. While no one knows for sure what Kauffman will get for his two MWR charters (he said they each would go for figures in the “single digit” millions), he at least now has an opportunity to recoup at least some of what he invested into the team over his eight seasons of ownership.
Without a charter system, the, oh, let’s say $10 million he gets from the transfer of his two entries simply doesn’t exist. And that’s not only important to him and to NASCAR’s other owners, but to you, the fan who watches and supports the product.
Top level racing takes millions of dollars. If NASCAR wants to be a viable sport it also has to have a viable business model. Why would someone want to get into a business — remember, racing is a business — that has little to no profit potential? Especially when that someone could invest in a minority share of a team in another sport and have an all-but-guaranteed return on investment when the time comes to sell?
The charter now provides that profit potential. Or, at the very least, a loss-limit potential. It’s a historic move for a sport that has long considered its participants to be independent contractors, but it’s a necessary one to attract the next generation of Hendricks and Penskes. 18 of the 36 charters are held by owners who had cars in the 1996 Daytona 500.
Given the current demographic of NASCAR ownership, it’s unlikely there will be a similar percentage of current owners listed on the entry sheet of the 2036 Daytona 500. If NASCAR wants a diverse cast of owners on that entry sheet in 20 years, Tuesday’s announcement is a big step towards ensuring that desire is fulfilled.
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Nick Bromberg is the editor of From The Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
