Reaction to the new charter system in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series announced Tuesday was mainly positive.
Several team owners and other officials issued statements on their thoughts about the new system:
Team owner Jack Roush: “I’ve been in this sport for a long time and am thrilled at the unprecedented collaboration that we’ve seen in the last year between the teams, drivers, NASCAR and the tracks. This system propels us into a new era by putting in place a structure that more closely resembles that of the other major professional sports, while at the same time maintaining the characteristics of our unique history and tradition.”
Texas Motor Speedway President Eddie Gossage: “This announcement is really important in giving our sport stability long term. Right now if you own a team and you want to sell it you own nothing but a building and the equipment in it. Nothing else of value can be offered to some potential buyer, so all the money they’ve invested through the years leading up to that point really doesn’t mean anything. With the charter system, it gives you equity ownership in the team. It gives it value. You can sell portions of it or all of it to another person or investor. For buyers and sellers, it makes it a market that is really going to create some value for the team owners so that when they are done with their racing days the organization has some value just like a baseball or football team has value to their owners.
“It ensures our teams have solid financial footing. The cost to go racing is so expensive. To run up front, you are talking $25 to $26 million a year to keep that car on the track and competitive because the technology changes from week to week. It’s hard to stay ahead of those costs. All sports struggle with this, but our sport more than any has that dilemma and NASCAR is trying to fill that gap to ensure that we have good solid competitive teams that are able to get on the race track every week and perform to put on the kind of races we enjoy at Texas Motor Speedway.”
Stewart-Haas Racing co-owner Tony Stewart: “Our sport is well positioned for growth and sustainability with this new charter agreement. I’m very proud of the work the teams and NASCAR have put into this new system, as many people have worked tirelessly to secure the health of our sport. Stronger communication, more team stability and shared goals equal a better product that we can showcase to our fans week in and week out.”
Stewart-Haas Racing co-owner Gene Haas: “This is an important day in the history of our sport that will benefit all constituents, immediately and in the long term. As someone who has heavily invested in motorsports for many years, I’m very pleased with the industry’s commitment to sustainability, collaboration and long-term value.”
The Twitter world also had a number of comments from the NASCAR community:
[embed]
Absolute land mark day for the sport! I for one am very happy for the owners and NASCAR. Will be big going forward https://t.co/WMEjsUGHs8
— Parker Kligerman (@pkligerman) February 9, 2016
[/embed]
[embed]
#NASCAR Charter System ultimately great for competition & fans. Agreement came as result of monumental cooperation. #Speedweeks #BringIt!
— Harry Scott, Jr. (@harryscottjr) February 9, 2016
[/embed]
[embed]
Excited to be part of #NASCAR history today with the announcement of the new charter business model. pic.twitter.com/TvptRtRKcQ
— Ɱɪ̈kɛ̃ ℂąL!йofƒ (@MikeCalinoff) February 9, 2016
[/embed]
[embed]
Nice work by @kauffmanrob RTA @NASCAR and Brian France to give race teams tangible value from this point forward.
— #GodwinKelly (@godwinkelly) February 9, 2016
[/embed]
Follow @JerryBonkowski