"Lawsuits are in play"; "Coward" - NASCAR fans furious over Steve Phelps' silence on charter negotiations

NASCAR president Steve Phelps declined to comment on the charter agreement deal amidst a row, according to journalist Bob Pockrass. Teams were reportedly not impressed with the new agreement that was presented for 2025.

The charter agreement for 2025 - 2031 was presented to teams earlier, however, they silently protested against the deal. It was reported that team owners are now demanding a larger share in the NASCAR revenue as they find it hard to break even running their cars during the season.

According to journalist Bob Pockrass, NASCAR resident Steve Phelps recently refused to comment on the situation. His post read:

"Steve Phelps declined comment here in garage on charter deal."

Fans on social media did not sound too surprised with his actions. Many mentioned that they predicted this would happen, with users also mentioning the possibility of a lawsuit.

"Declined comments from both sides = lawsuits are in play"

"Of course he did. He’s a coward," commented a user.

"That was predictable," a comment read.

Some users wrote that the authorities do not prefer resistance from others, while some mentioned 23XI, who skipped the deadline to sign the charter agreement.

"NASCAR doesn’t like it when someone stands up to them"

"Phelps to FRM and 23XI probably, 'we don’t like what we’re seeing,'" a user wrote.

"He knows what they’re doing and couldn’t deny it," wrote another fan.

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23XI skips deadline to sign NASCAR charter agreement

The Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan co-owned 23XI Racing skipped the deadline to sign the 2025 charter agreement. In a statement, the team mentioned that it did not have the "opportunity to fairly bargain."

Hamlin also mentioned during his Actions Detrimental podcast recently that the team would even accept a "fair" agreement deal. He also stated that the deal had "never been great."

"It's never been great," Hamlin continued, talking about the deal. "I think, personally, from 23XI's perspective, we would take a decent deal, not even a fair deal just a decent one. And you know from our standpoint it's got a ways to go."

Charters are extremely essential for the teams running in NASCAR. These are agreements that ensure a part of the revenue that the series earns goes to the teams. Since there is also a direct monetary benefit, the teams find it easy to run cars for the entire season which also helps them to find sponsors.

Currently, there are 36 charters on the 40-car grid. Non-chartered cars only earn profits with their prize money and hence run limited races.