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Dale Jr’s Grave Confession About NASCAR’s Charter System and team owner has taken his side: This is a battle against misappropriation
Dale Jr’s Grave Confession About NASCAR’s Charter System and team owner has taken his side: This is a battle against misappropriation
When NASCAR officials came up with the charter system in early 2016, the objective was stability. The idea was to give every charter team a place on the grid and a piece of NASCAR’s earnings. But over the years, the price to acquire a charter has skyrocketed. So much so that in 2021, even NASCAR veteran Dale Earnhardt Jr fumbled for his team’s prospects in the Cup Series.
Back then, Dale Jr harbored a mixed approach toward the debate. But now, with a billion dollars worth media rights and simmering protests, he has taken a stand. And one underdog Xfinity team owner has taken his side.
Carl Long is one of the few ‘non-charter’ team owners in NASCAR. His team, MBM Motorsports, does not have ties to manufacturer funding and or data-sharing contracts with the bigwig teams. Yet they continue to persist in the Cup landscape, although the crippling charter system makes things worse for him.
As early as 2021, Dale Earnhardt Jr had ridiculed the exorbitant prices of charters. Back then, $10 million for a charter was way out of his range to add JR Motorsports to the Cup Series. In 2024, Dale Earnhardt Jr harps on the same issue, as he sides with the underdog teams who have little legroom for financial freedom.
Dale, in his podcast, had said, “If it was a $10 Million charter buy in the Xfinity Series, I wouldn’t be in it. Carl Long and the guys, they came to show up and race this weekend [Cup race at Martinsville]. Is that realistic to be an open team, and come compete and financially be able to at least break even? I grew up in a NASCAR where if you wanted to build your Cup racing car, you built one, and you raced.”
‘Dale Jr Download Reload’ host Carla Gebhart took the cue from there and talked to Carl Long, who was the guest.
The owner’s responses revealed the bleak scenario where even the bare minimum is difficult to get. “That’s our goal, to at least break even. We just don’t have a ton of overhead like the bigger teams do. So we can offer a product for a lot less money.”
Long mentioned that finances were a top priority. “The first thing we do is we look at the payouts…And then you look at the car count, and then possibly go home if there’s too many of ’em. In Martinsville, there were no hotel rooms..and the way the schedule’s laid out, you just drive up there and drive back.”
Carl Long also added: “$50,000, $60,000 a race is kind of the low end of where people try to run at in Xfinity. And I can offer the same thing in Cup and give guys a chance to learn Cup and give me a chance to learn more about cars, be a little more competitive as we get more experience.”
The MBM team lead’s financial woes are nothing new, as one fateful incident had bludgeoned his ambitions.
Long’s Cup dreams were cut short by a technical snag
After Carl Long qualified for the 2000 Coca-Cola 600, he was on his way to a good career. He drew fan support after a tumbling wreck in North Carolina in the 2004 Cup season. But in the All-Star exhibition race of 2009, some unsavory circumstances developed. And it was that incident that crippled Long’s prospects and even kept him from having his own charter.
Just after 3 laps into the race, his engine blew. Later on, the post-race inspection revealed that Long was using an engine that was 0.17 cubic inches too large. This happened because Long was using a refurbished engine that had been leased to him.
The weekend didn’t end well for him as not only did he lose the race early on, but he was also fined a gigantic $200,000. Long believed that if not for that incident, things would have been different.
“I probably would’ve been in a position to where I would’ve been issued a charter, and my life would be way different. We were on the way of, you know, building Cup cars and running Cup full-time.”
Well, this shows that all the glamor of NASCAR is only the tip of the iceberg. In reality, many racing teams and drivers are struggling in the shadows.
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A former Ferrari engineer has criticised the decision to bring in Lewis Hamilton and thinks the Brit’s presence will mean “a lot of potential for drama”.
At the age of 40, seven-time Formula 1 champion Hamilton will form a formidable driver partnership with Charles Leclerc. His big switch comes at the expense of Carlos Sainz, who has performed well for the Italian squad but who was axed so they had room for their blockbuster new signing.
But not everyone of a Ferrari persuasion is convinced that it will go well. Ernest Knoors, who spent many years as an engineer at Maranello, specialising in power units, worries that Hamilton’s presence could do more harm than good for a team that is finding its groove under Frederic Vasseur.
“A big name like Hamilton also brings a lot of politics and if politics within Ferrari are not managed well, then there is a lot of potential for drama,” he told Formule1.nl. “Hamilton has the tendency that if things do not work out, he turns his whole car upside down and starts experimenting.
“Ferrari believes very much in the big personalities and will follow him. But Hamilton is just someone you have to guide a little bit and not give the freedom to rebuild the whole car, because then it will go completely wrong. So I do not know if it is such a smart move, but of course it is nice for the sport.”
News of Hamilton’s planned move broke on February 1, coinciding with football’s Transfer Deadline Day. That the back pages of many newspapers were dominated by the decision of Hamilton to swap Mercedes for Ferrari was testament to the magnitude of the announcement.
Sainz was not surprised as he had been informed by his team of the plan ahead of it being made public. But the Spaniard responded well with two victories to date this season and five further appearances on the podium, on the way to what looks likely to be a fifth-placed finish in the championship – two spots and 54 points ahead of Hamilton.
Sainz has signed for Williams next year and, after several years of running at the front of the grid, will focus on his new challenge of helping restore one of the grid’s most historic teams to its former glory. But Knoors believes he should have been kept on by Ferrari instead.
The Dutchman added: “I see Lewis Hamilton’s arrival at Ferrari more as a PR move. With all due respect, Hamilton is not going to take that Ferrari from P6 to P1. He will get the most out of it, but what Ferrari has to do is make that car faster. And if you make that car faster, you can easily drive at the front with the current line-up.
“Besides, as a team you have to look further on the horizon. If Hamilton becomes champion in the coming years, he and Ferrari will become immortal. But if you want to build a team with talent for the next five years, are you going to build on Hamilton? No, because he will really be finished after two or three years. That is why I would have kept the very strong line-up that Ferrari has now.”
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Chase Elliott had a front-row seat for one of NASCAR’s most bizarre moments of the 2024 Cup Series season. At the start of Stage 2, the pace car dove onto pit road in front of Elliott; however, it was a tad too late. The pace car made contact with the sand barrels at the entry of pit road and caused a red flag for cleanup.
Initially, there was some speculation on the NBC Sports broadcast, even from the No. 9 team, that Elliott made contact with the pace car. Fortunately, the pace car didn’t slide across the No. 9 car’s nose, but it undoubtedly provided one of NASCAR’s craziest red flag moments in recent memory.
Below, you can listen to Elliott and the No. 9 team react to the pace car crashing into the sand barrels on pit road at Phoenix during Championship Weekend!
Reflecting on the recent retirement of 2017 NASCAR Cup Series champion Martin Truex Jr., Earnhardt didn’t mince words about the toll NASCAR takes on its drivers. Speaking candidly, the two-time Daytona 500 winner admitted that the pressure to perform every week left him feeling miserable for most of his racing career—a sentiment he believes is shared by many of his peers.
“Right or wrong, racing made me a miserable person 90% of the time,” Earnhardt confessed. “And him too. I mean, ask Kyle Busch, ask anybody—unless you’re winning, you’re not happy.”
For these elite drivers, the sport is a relentless grind. A podium finish might bring temporary relief, but anything short of victory is often a source of frustration. The immense effort poured into preparation and execution rarely feels like it pays off unless the checkered flag is theirs.
Earnhardt highlighted the mental toll of falling short, explaining how the relentless focus on winning can overshadow the joy of simply competing. Even a solid performance feels hollow compared to the euphoria of a win.
“Unless you’re winning, you’re not happy at all,” he said. “You’re okay with a good run, but for the most part, all the effort it takes just to run good—it doesn’t weigh out.”
For drivers, the stakes are sky-high every week. Sponsors, fans, and teams demand nothing less than excellence, leaving little room for error or personal satisfaction in anything less than a dominant performance.
Earnhardt also shared insights into his friendship with Martin Truex Jr., who recently announced his retirement. While the two often spend time hunting together during NASCAR’s off-season, Earnhardt noted that the stress of racing even creeps into their leisure activities.
“When I’m with him during hunting season, it’s always in the back of his mind,” Earnhardt said. “It’s that stressful part of the year when he’s as miserable as he’s going to be.”
Now, with Truex stepping away from the track, Earnhardt looks forward to seeing a lighter, happier version of his long-time friend. Without the weight of weekly competition hanging over him, Truex might finally be able to relax and enjoy the outdoor lifestyle he cherishes.
“It’ll be fun to see him loosen up,” Earnhardt added.
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