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Most of the team owners in NASCAR have been there for several decades. But over the last few years, many new team owners from outside the racing fraternity have joined the sport, including names such as Michael Jordan and Pitbull.
This trend of having new owners was largely made possible by the charter system. And if Steve Phelps and Steve O'Donnell of NASCAR are to be believed, having new owners, new personalities and breaking the traditional route of ownership, is a good thing for the sport.
In fact, Phelps claimed as per the Sports Business Journal, that while he's aware of the backlash this approach might attract, they're still going to push for it for the greater good.
“The great news on our end too is you look at, I've been at NASCAR a long time, and ownership in NASCAR was always that traditional, grew up through the sport, had been an owner for 30 years,” O’Donnell said.
“That is completely changing and you're seeing interest from all over to come into NASCAR. So it's a big opportunity for us. We've got to get that right," Phelps said.
He added that there could be some things that present a challenge for them and push them, but ownership that is not traditional to NASCAR is "good for us."
“We're going to have new personalities, new businesses that'll come into the sport. So I think at the end of the day, we've talked about everybody will be a little ticked off once we get to the deal, but that'll mean it's the right way to go.”
Denny Hamlin didn't share NASCAR's optimism on the charter situation
Not long ago, Steve Phelps publicly claimed that an agreement on the charter situation would be reached soon and that the deal would be a fair one for all parties involved. However, one of NASCAR's biggest names and a team owner himself, Denny Hamlin, wasn't as hopeful as Phelps.
Hamlin claimed on Actions Detrimental that while he appreciated the optimism of Phelps, he wasn't as optimistic about the situation.
"I don’t know how much of that is what he believes is truth and how much of it is uh… what he believes versus what kind of a narrative that’s being put out there. Awfully disappointing that we just can’t get our feet out of the mud on this thing, but hopefully, we get some traction soon," Hamlin explained.
Going forward, it will be interesting to see how NASCAR and the teams reach an agreement on the charter situation. Whether the new agreement and the terms are something that ends up benefitting the sport, only time will tell.
