NASCAR and Sprint Cup team owners are discussing ways teams can enjoy increased “long-term value” in the future, according to a report by Bob Pockrass at ESPN.com.
The report says executives from five teams confirmed to ESPN that talks were taking place.
The long-term value teams seek could involve franchising or a “select number of licenses that guarantee starting spots” the report says.
“What I can say is both NASCAR and the teams recognize that the teams building up some kind of long-term equity for participating in the sport, year in and year out and putting on the show, is a good thing,” said Rob Kauffman, Michael Waltrip Racing co-owner and chairman of the Race Team Alliance. “You look at a lot of other sports around the world, and that’s how they work.”
The Race Team Alliance was formed in 2014 by nine Sprint Cup organizations (and later expanded to include the majority of teams in the field) as a collaborative way to negotiate with NASCAR on major issues.
“So the question is, can you come up with some model within the framework of NASCAR that makes sense for everybody,” Kauffman said. “It’s a very sensible concept. The hard part is the details. So we’re having productive discussions to see if we can figure out how to do it. It’s an ongoing project.”
In a statement to ESPN.com, NASCAR chief operating officer Brent Dewar said: