Yahoo Autos Richard Childress Chimes In on Why He Signed New NASCAR Charter Agreement
Before the start of the United Rentals 250 at Talladega Speedway, Fox Sport's Bob Pockrass stopped Richard Childress to ask why he signed the new NASCAR Charter agreement for 2025. The answer was simple: he had workers to look out for, and the short deadline gave him, in his opinion, no choice but to sign.
"We got our Docusign that evening," Childress told Pockrass. "6:37 is when it came in, and we had to sign by 12:00, or we lose our charters. I didn’t have a choice because we had to sign. I got over 400 Employees, OEM in contract, contracts with sponsors, and I gotta take care of my team.”
Last month, 23XI and Front Row Racing were the only two NASCAR teams not to sign the deal in the short, six-hour window in which the sanctioning body gave them to sign on September 6th. The following day, 23XI released their first statement about not signing, stating "they did not have the opportunity to fairly bargain for a new Charter contract."
It has escalated since the teams acquired Anti Trust and Sports Law attorney Jeffrey Kessler to represent them in a suit against NASCAR. Kessler has famously been part of the team to bring forth the NFL's unrestricted free agency and the new NCAA NIL deal.
Kessler only represents the two teams that went against the grain and refused to sign the new charter agreement, but the hope is that the proposed changes made to the sport will have a ripple effect on all the teams.
Pockrass asked Childress if he would join the suit if it became an option. Childress replied that he didn't think it was possible and it's too early on in the legal process to speculate. The veteran NASCAR owner hopes that the changes will benefit all 15 chartered teams equally.
"I don’t think we could join," Childress said. "It’s way too early to talk about all the legal stuff. NASCAR hasn’t even come back with an answer, I’m sure they’re looking at anti-trust attoneys I know they are, and we’ll go from there."
As the suit goes on, Childress hopes that under the law, any long-term wins granted to 23XI and Front Row Racing will be equally represented by the other teams that decided to sign. Childress referenced NASCAR's lack of a Most Favored Nation (MFN) clause, which is often the hot topic of an Anti-Trust suit.
"I think it will by the law, but we don’t have a favorite nation in our charter, which is not fair to me anyway because everyone should be treated equal. How do I know that they’re not going to give someone a better restrictor plate or give someone 20 million more dollars than me? We don’t know without a favored nation."
Per Winston and Stawn's website, the law group that employs Kessler, an MFN is "a term included in a contract for products or services that prevents the seller from selling its products or services to the buyer’s competitors for a lower price, or on better terms, than the seller sells the products or services to the buyer."
While MFNs exist in contracts between some businesses, over the last few years, they have been under scrutiny in anti-trust cases as a tool to restrain trade.
Richard Childress Racing holds two charters in the NASCAR Xfinity and Cup Series. RCR's Xfinity lineup of Jesse Love and Austin Hill swept the front row for qualifying in Saturday's United Rentals 250 race at Talladega.
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