“Is this not conflict of interest?”: Fans react as rumors suggest NASCAR including unpopular clause in new charter agreement

The NASCAR fanbase has reacted to speculations about the France family's inclusion into the latest charter agreement. This comes after the officials initially prohibited the members of NASCAR's founding family who have an active role in NASCAR from buying the charter during its first issue in 2016.

The charter system was introduced in 2016 and ensured every Cup Series team under the owner-charter agreement entry into each points-paying race and hence a chunk from the prize purse. Moreover, with the teams being guaranteed entry into the races, an increase in the business side of the sport was witnessed. With that, many sponsors started locking deals with the charter-owning teams.

The founding father of NASCAR Bill France Sr., and any of his family member was barred from owning a charter due to the fear of a conflict of interest. However, as the old charter contract is due for expiration, the new agreement has apparently waived the limitations imposed earlier.

Per the latest reports, the France family would be allowed to own a stake in charters without restrictions.

"The France family would be able to buy @NASCAR charters starting in 2025 under the terms of the latest charter offer to teams, despite initial questions over whether the provision would ultimately be included," motorsports reporter Adam Stern wrote via X.

The revelation didn't sit well with the fanbase and they took a jibe at the France family's potential inclusion in the charter system.

"Is this not a conflict of interest," one fan wrote.

"Time to get the France family out of the sport," another fan commented opining to let go of NASCAR's founding family.

This fan highlighted the probable reason behind the family's inclusion.

"Why? Does Jim France want to own a NASCAR team to go with his IMSA team now that he has made the Cup Cars into modified sports cars?" the fan wrote.

"This is so bad. The teams should not allow this," one fan commented.

This fan took a jibe at Team Penske's owner Roger Penske for owning a charter despite having a vested interest in the IndyCar series.

"That seems like a conflict, but it’s no different than Penske racing in IndyCar," the fan expressed.

One fan highlighted the money aspect in the speculated agreement and jibed at the France family.

"The France family is all about anything that will make them more money," they opined.

NASCAR teams are unhappy with the charter payout despite a sure-shot entry into the points races

So far, no definitive step has been taken toward the fruition of the proposed charter agreement. Since the system was brought to play in 2016, almost all the teams on the roster have benefitted from it. The yearly average payout under the charter agreement ranged between $8-9 million depending on the team's finishing spot during each race weekend.

However, running a stock car team is not an inexpensive affair. Aspects like maintaining the stock car, transporting them across the nation in big haulers, setting up the garage during every race weekend, salaries to the personnel, provision of insurance to the employees, and whatnot, contribute to the hefty outflow of money from every team owner's pocket.

The current payout is insufficient and the teams have to rely on the financial backing from the sponsors to bear the costs, which, in a way, hinders their growth in NASCAR. But with the sport's historic media rights deal amounting to a whopping $1.1 billion, the teams want more money to fund their venture.

NASCAR went from $820 million to $1.1 billion a year, which is a big revenue jump of 34%. Witnessing the huge climb in the annual remuneration prompted the teams to ask for double the payout.

However, the officials believe the teams couldn't see the hefty underlying costs needed to own and maintain the asphalt. As a result, no decision has materialized regarding the payout and the matter still lingers.