NASCAR’s New Charter System Creates Intriguing Payouts For Drivers

NASCAR introduced a new charter system on Wednesday, marking a successful merger between a one-time dictatorship and a group of team owners finally organized enough to demand their fair share of the financials.

NASCAR’s New Charter System Creates Intriguing Payouts For Drivers

NASCAR’s previous model independent-contractor model that caused instability because it forced competitors to heavily rely on sponsorship.

As a result, the owners will now be guaranteed a bigger chunk of the pot and 36 slots in the field every week.

The drivers, on the other hand, are not as sure this will entail a better deal for them.

“I think anyone would like to know before the terms of their employment change, but that is not the situation,” Brad Keselowski said. “I am aware of the fact that I am a race car driver, and no matter what happens, I am still going to be ok. I am not looking for anyone to feel bad for me. On the other side, it is not ideal.

“It would be like if your employer just said, ‘Hey, don’t worry about it, you will get paid.’ That is kind of where most every driver is.”

The charter system has completely changed how drivers will be paid. Drivers typically negotiated individual contracts with team owners in which the drivers were promised specific salaries and percentages of each week’s purse.

The new system has set aside a fixed portion of the purse for the 36 charter teams, as well as an additional portion that goes to charter teams based on a performance scale. NASCAR had touted transparency in the charter agreement, but now the public — and even some drivers — won’t know how exactly how the winnings will be distributed, starting with the winnings from last weekend’s exhibition race at Daytona.

Drivers have also long wanted to know what goes on behind the scenes with their bosses and the NASCAR brass, which led to a creation of an elected driver council.

Last year’s inaugural 10-member council included Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick, Dale Earnhardt Jr.,Tony Stewart, Kyle Larson, Joey Logano, Clint Bowyer, Greg Biffle, Jamie McMurray and Jeff Gordon.

Because NASCAR shortened the field by three cars to 40, the driver council was reduced to nine members this season. Bowyer, Biffle, McMurray and Gordon have been replaced by Keselowski, Jimmie Johnson and current NASCAR champion Kyle Busch. 

The council is taking credit, in part, for the creation of a new overtime rule instituted just this year, and the drivers hope their combined efforts will help them receive proper compensation under the new system.

“It’s starting to show its potential. I think trying to get all the other drivers to understand that it is important is crucial,” Earnhardt said. “The council that we have, they’re not the nine smartest guys. They’re just the guys that drivers voted for to represent them because we need a small group so that the voice is clear instead of having 43 drivers in there or whatever. That would be pretty noisy and messy.”

Caption: DAYTONA BEACH, FL – FEBRUARY 16: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Jamie McMurray speaks with the media during NASCAR Media Day at Daytona International Speedway on February 16, 2016 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)