CONCORD, North Carolina — NASCAR chairman Brian France hinted Sunday at drastic changes for the sport as it seeks to manage expenses for teams.
“There’s a lot more we can do, and we’re going to do it,’’ France told NBC Sports at Charlotte Motor Speedway. “That’s what the charter opportunity gives the chance to do. We’re working with (teams) to see how we can control expenses in a way that has not been done in motorsports before.’’
One of NASCAR’s three main tenets is cost containment (along with safety and competition). France met with Andrew Murstein, majority owner of Richard Petty Motorsports, and John Tisch, owner of the NFL’s New York Giants, in July where Murstein discussed the notion of a spending cap for teams.
Asked Sunday what can be done to help teams with costs, France told NBC Sports: “There are structural changes that can be smarter than we’re doing it today that we are working on with the teams to adjust the expense model and other things in a smarter way.”
When will this be done?
“It’s as soon as we can,’’ France said. “It’s a process, but it takes a little bit of time.’’
Costs to team have become a bigger issue this week.
Denny Hamlin raised issues this week about revenue redistribution in the sport and giving teams and drivers the opportunity to make more money.
“The pie has to be shifted for sure,” Hamlin said Wednesday. “The TV dollars coming into NASCAR is higher than it’s ever been, but we’re seeing fewer and fewer teams, and it just can’t survive. So it economically doesn’t make sense. The pie, the amount of TV money that the race teams share, has to go up, in my opinion.”
On Friday, BK Racing’s two cars did not run in practice or qualifying. Brett Moffitt told NBC Sports that the reason the team didn’t run was because “bills were not paid.” Car owner Ron Devine declined comment to NBC Sports. The team was prepared to practice Saturday, but both sessions were canceled by rain. Both cars were to run Sunday’s race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
NASCAR has implemented various rule changes with the long-term goal of saving teams money. NASCAR announced last month that Cup teams will be required to use 13 short block engines for two full race weekends next season to help defray costs. Teams also can only use one engine for Daytona Speedweeks next year.
In the Xfinity Series, teams debuted the flange-fit composite body at Richmond in September. It ran at Dover and will run later this year at Phoenix. The composite body can be used in 2018 for all races except superspeedway events. Series officials plan to make the composite body mandatory in 2019.
Also, NASCAR is experimenting with less on-track activity. Cup teams were on track only two days, including race day, at Pocono and Watkins Glen in August and will have the same schedule later this month at Martinsville Speedway.
