Last week it was announced that the top nine race teams had formed for the first time in the history of NASCAR a single group that would help oversee some of the largest issues in the sport. In the time since the announcement, many individuals have tried to understand the meaning of this formation, yet few have openly spoken about the ramifications – both good and bad – this joint partnership could bring the sport.
NASCAR Racing Alliance
The joint partnership has been called the Race Team Alliance and it currently includes Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates, Hendrick Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing, Michael Waltrip Racing, Richard Childress Racing, Richard Petty Motorsports, Roush Fenway Racing, Stewart-Haas Racing and Team Penske. In addition, Michael Waltrip Racing co-owner Rob Kauffman was elected as chairman.
The RTA announced the main reasons for the partnership was to lower overall costs for all race teams and have a voice that addresses on-going issues in the sport.
“Calling it a union would be incorrect. A union would be for employees,” Kauffman said during a phone interview with The Associated Press.
“The right way to characterize it would be a ‘business alliance.’ Unions are about employees directly trying to negotiate something. The RTA is pooling together to look at things we can be doing better. No one is looking to start a fight or be controversial.”
Kauffman also said the top goal of the RTA is to include in the remaining Sprint Cup teams that are not existing members. According to Kauffman, the next most important items on the agenda is to work on cost-reducing ideas that are related to travel and buying power for parts. Kauffman also wants this group to address NASCAR on the team’s ideas for testing during the year.
Kauffman also said the RTA will discuss how to acquire better benefits for employees such as health care.
“One of the projects out of the chute is all of these teams get a lot of hotel rooms on a weekly basis — well, gaining a hotel partner might help with that cost and provide some flexibility,” Kauffman said. “When you put a lot of smart people in the room, you can come up with a lot of smart ideas. Right now, I don’t think we even know how much we all spend in total on parts. Or how many employees do we all have?”
Now, when the news of the new alliance broke out, no one knew how NASCAR would react or if they would resent this unprecedented unification.
NASCAR chief communications officer Brett Jewkes was the first to speak out. He said the sanctioning body had only a few details on the RTA’s “structure or purpose,” so it would be inappropriate to comment on the new alliance.
“NASCAR’s mission, as it has always been, is to create a fair playing field where anyone can come and compete,” Jewkes said in a statement. “Our job is to support and strengthen all of the teams, large and small, across all of our series and we’ll continue to do that. NASCAR is a unique community with hundreds of stakeholders. They all have a voice and always will.”
On Friday afternoon, NASCAR president Mike Helton spoke out about the formation of RTA. Helton said that the sanctioning body and the RTA are not adversaries and that NASCAR will keep operating at its normal capacity.
“We’ve got great respect for all of our stakeholders in the sport,” Helton said Friday afternoon. “As their business models have evolved from time to time, ours has, too. But we’ve got great respect for all of our stakeholders. So any perception that there could be animosity based on this topic is incorrect and very unfortunate, and we should set that straight very quickly.”
Helton further said that both NASCAR and the RTA are committed to bringing out the best product to the tracks for the fans.
He also iterated that the NASCAR sanctioning body will continue to listen to the sport’s participants as it has in the past.
“Every car owner in here has a voice,” said Helton. “Crewmembers, drivers, crew chiefs. And we take that input and we make what we think are the best decisions that are good for the whole sport. We’ll continue to operate that way. That’s our intention — to build NASCAR collectively… We’ll continue to do business the way we’ve done business.”
While most of the people that run NASCAR are holding their tongues on the matter (and for good reason), fans still want a clear explanation on how the RTA will truly benefit the sport and possibly fix it’s nearly, 10-year decline.
While those answers are yet to be seen, purists of not just NASCAR but of other forms of motorsports can see this new unification as both good and bad.
Fans and analysts that have watched other series of auto racing know very well what can happen when a struggle for power can come into being.
It was less than 15 years ago when the CART series folded after years of mismanagement by some of its owners and its inconsistent sanctioning body.
Another theory has arisen of the true reason for the alliance: money. Since the announcement of the RTA, speculation has come out that the RTA might push for a higher share of revenue for the new $8.2 billion TV deal that will kick in next year, or even for some form of franchising, which NASCAR has always opposed.
While no member of the RTA has acknowledged this theory, it is mostly likely that no one ever will.
With the fact that these nine teams control at least 25 of the 43 starters on a weekly basis, it is also very plausible to see the owners pressure NASCAR into bending to their wants. It could be argued that seeing the auto manufactures force NASCAR to build the Generation 6 racecar started a domino effect before the RTA was even formed. After seeing the influence the manufactures can have on NASCAR, it’s no wonder why people are cautious on the potential power swing the owners can take from the sanctioning body.
While these are some of the bad sides to the RTA coin, a lot of good can also come from this unique partnership:
The owners can now have a direct say in rule changes that NASCAR presents for the sport, whether they are for safety, competition or even offseason.
The owners could possibly present rule changes that may benefit the competition and the safety of the drivers and teams.
Teams can now work closer with NASCAR to develop chassis and engines that may reduce the cost that they desire, while improving the competition at the same time.
The RTA could possibly suggest changes to NASCAR’s overall schedule, from its yearly to weekend calendars.
NASCAR’s team owners could also vote to reverse the current Chase rules and possibly, although unlikely, remove The Chase altogether – something that could possibly bring back many of NASCAR’s purist fan base.
While all these scenarios are possible, some are far more likely than others.
And no matter how one looks at this new alliance, this must remain: Give them a chance before passing judgment.
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Main Photo Credit: Russell LaBounty
