"Hard to believe that team won’t be here next year” - Rick Mast reacts to Michael Jordan-led 23XI’s NASCAR charter dispute

Former NASCAR Cup Series driver Rick Mast discussed 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports' precarious situation after both teams held out from signing the new charter deal. The rest of the team owners on the grid have agreed to the terms.

Mast, who spoke to some NASCAR insiders in the Cup garage at Atlanta Motor Speedway, couldn't glean the specific details as to why both 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports decided not to sign the charter before the given deadline.

Speaking on Kenny Wallace's YouTube channel, Mast insists that Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan's 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports will somehow retain their charters and finds the alternative outcome "unfathomable". He believes the two teams will sort out the situation with the sanctioning body.

"When we talk about Michael Jordan-Denny Hamlin's team and & Front Row, nobody would give specifics about [...] what those teams were holding out for. Moving forward, what's going to happen? Hell, I don't know. It's hard for me to believe that gosh that team [23XI Racing] won't be here next year or Front Row for that matter. I just kind of find that unfathomable that they wouldn't be a part of our sport, this thing will get worked out," he said. [at 7:24]

The 67-year-old NASCAR veteran added that if 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports managed to negotiate better terms, it would likely be implemented for the rest of the teams. He also stressed that NASCAR, founded by 'Big Bill France,' has always been a "viable dictatorship," and the France family will ultimately have the final say.

"The other part is if they do come off the hip with something a little bit more generous, if NASCAR does do that then that'll go through all the teams for sure. But you got to understand man, NASCAR is a dictatorship, they always have been. It's been the way since the beginning, and you go into knowing that, and it's a very viable, successful dictatorship."

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Dale Earnhardt Jr. believes NASCAR won't take away 23XI Racing's charters

NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr. insists NASCAR won't take away Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan's charters, and elaborated on the original intention with which the charter system was introduced.

In a recent episode of Dale Jr. Download, Junior explained that charters were originally intended as a means to provide stability and ensure a guaranteed spot in each race and were purportedly not called franchises. He said:

"They're not going to take away Michael Jordan's charters. There may be a little bit of disconnect between what NASCAR thought the charter system would be and what the teams think the charter system is. The charter system wasn't called a franchise for a reason. They weren't considered franchises." [at 59:30]

"The teams have shifted that idea that the charter is a franchise, like owning the Indianapolis Colts, and I don't think that NASCAR ever thought it would be that," he added.

Dale Jr. added that 23XI Racing's leverage was eroded when NASCAR started negotiating individually with the teams, resulting in 13 out of the 15 Cup owners agreeing to the new deal.