"I don't know where it goes" - Trackhouse owner addresses Michael Jordan-led 23XI's charter standoff with NASCAR

Trackhouse Racing owner Justin Marks was recently asked his thoughts on 23XI Racing, co-owned by retired NBA legend Michael Jordan and current Cup Series driver Denny Hamlin, not coming to a new charter agreement with NASCAR. The owner of the #1 and #99 Cup Series cars said he isn't sure where things will fall.

In a recent episode of the Happy Hour Podcast, hosted by retired NASCAR champion Kevin Harvick, Marks was asked where he feels the landscape of team ownership has landed with the new charter agreement and some deciding not to sign. He said:

"I think we're all still trying to figure that out, honestly. The ink is barely dry on the paper right now and so much focus has been on negotiating the points of the charter agreement that there hasn't been a lot of time really spent on, OK, what does the first week look like after we all sign it?" [21:00]

When it comes to 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports, the only two Cup teams who didn't sign charter extensions, Marks applauded them for standing up for what they believe in but wasn't sure how things would shake out regarding the situation.

"I certainly admire their conviction," Marks said. "I certainly admire their willingness to stand up for what they're fighting for, for what they believe in. I don't know where it goes. I don't know what comes out of it because we're going to wake up tomorrow preparing for the Daytona 500, so it's going to come really, really quickly. So we'll see where that goes." [24:20]

Harvick, the 2014 Cup Series champion and 60-time race winner, asked the team owner if it was a positive that the new charter agreement was different from the previous. Marks responded by saying he believes the changes are for the better, adding that they had to take a closer look at the sport in regards to where the sport itself and its team are going, business-wise.

Marks compared the focus of looking at how to better NASCAR as a business to when he went through raising investment for his team, stating:

"I had to really look at my business and get out of the weeds of the day to day, and look like, what is Trackhouse? Where's it going, and how does it stack up in the ecosystem of other sports teams and entertainment properties and things like that?" [22:05]

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23XI Racing and NASCAR could have legal dispute over charter

The refusal to sign a new charter could reportedly cost Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin's team upwards of $100 million. Jeff Gluck, a motorsports insider for The Athletic, recently said on an episode of The Teardown podcast that the co-owners could be willing to "walk the plank" and take NASCAR to court over the charter disputes. He added:

“If they [23XI] think, ‘Hey, we can drag NASCAR into court and either get a settlement from this or get NASCAR to make the concessions we’ve been asking for, or take it all the way and change the model of the sport, essentially. Maybe that’s what they’re trying to do, and they feel like they’re trying to do it for the other teams as well."

Bubba Wallace and Tyler Reddick both drive full-time in the Cup Series for 23XI Racing, with Wallace driving the #23 and Reddick piloting the #45. Front Row Motorsports fields two full-time cars as well, with Michael McDowell in the #34 and Todd Gilliland in the #38.

NASCAR hasn't commented on the teams deciding not to sign the agreement.