“Holy cow” - Dale Earnhardt Jr. shocked as 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports refuse to sign charter agreement

Dale Earnhardt Jr. has commented on the ongoing standoff between two teams and NASCAR over the charter agreement. 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports have refused to sign the NASCAR charter agreement. As the Friday deadline approached, most NASCAR teams agreed to the terms, but these two teams have stood firm in their decision to not sign under pressure.

According to The Athletic, NASCAR set a deadline of midnight Friday, warning that teams that did not sign the agreement risked losing their charters. The ultimatum prompted many teams to reluctantly sign the agreement. However, 23XI Racing, co-owned by Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan, and Front Row Motorsports, owned by Bob Jenkins, chose to hold out. The decision has left the future of their charters uncertain as they remain the only teams without a finalized agreement post-deadline.

Dale Jr., shared Bob Pockrass's update on his official X account with his reaction to the developments regarding the two teams:

"Holy 🐮"

The 23XI Racing team has publicly addressed its decision not to sign the charter agreement by the NASCAR-imposed deadline.

The statement from 23XI Racing said:

"23XI decided to not meet a NASCAR-imposed deadline last night to sign charter agreements for its two cars for 2025-2031. 23XI’s position, as stated in a letter to NASCAR, is that we did not have an opportunity to fairly bargain for a new charter contract. We notified NASCAR what issues needed to be addressed, in writing, at the deadline. [...] "

As of now, Front Row Motorsports has not yet commented on its reasons for withholding signature on the charter agreement.

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Denny Hamlin refuses to elaborate on 23XI Racing not signing charter agreement

Denny Hamlin has been vocal about his dissatisfaction with NASCAR's latest draft of the charter agreement, which he believes does not fairly address the teams' needs. During a recent press conference, he reiterated that NASCAR, as the drafter of the agreement, needs to consider the teams' requirements more thoughtfully.

However, when pressed by reporter Peter Stratta regarding 23XI Racing's deadline conflict with NASCAR, Hamlin chose not to elaborate, stating,

"I think it was all covered by the statement. I don't really have anything else to add. Obviously, I'm here to try to win for my 11 team; that's certainly the focus when I come to the racetrack."

Amid these negotiations, NASCAR's current media deal is set to expire at the end of this year, and a new media rights agreement worth $7.7 billion has been secured with Fox Sports, NBC, Warner Brothers Discovery, and Amazon for the next seven years, marking a 40% increase over the existing contract.

It remains to be seen how NASCAR will respond to the absence of two prominent teams from the charter agreement.