HAMPTON, Ga. -- The ongoing charter negotiations saga has taken another turn as 23XI Racing has issued a statement detailing why it did not sign NASCAR's proposed multi-year charter extension before Friday night's deadline.
According to The Athletic, the majority of Cup Series teams have signed the new extension, which lasts seven years. 23XI Racing is one of the two exceptions. The other is Front Row Motorsports.
"23XI Racing decided not to meet a NASCAR-imposed deadline last night to sign Charter agreements for its two cars for 2025-2031," the team said in a statement issued Saturday morning. "23XI's position, as stated in a letter to NASCAR, is that we did not have an opportunity to fairly bargain for a new Charter contract.
"We notified NASCAR what issues need to be addressed, in writing, at the deadline. We are interested in engaging in constructive discussions with NASCAR to address these issues and move forward in a way that comes to a fair resolution, while strengthening the sport we all love.
"At 23XI Racing we remain committed to competing at the highest level while also standing firm in our belief that NASCAR should be governed by fair and equitable practices."
23XI Racing co-owner Denny Hamlin was mum when pressed for further details regarding the charter deadline and the decision to not sign the agreement. He kept referring media members to the statement that his team released.
However, Hamlin acknowledged that the lingering charter situation will have an impact on impending free agent Bubba Wallace signing a deal for next season.
"Anything in the future certainly is dependent on things like that," Hamlin said.
While Hamlin declined to comment further on the charter negotiations, which have grown contentious, another driver-owner weighed in.
Brad Keselowski explained to media members at Atlanta Motor Speedway why his team chose to sign the agreement.
"We want to run NASCAR for a long time to come and signing the charter agreement is a statement to our commitment to doing just that," Keselowski said. "So we've got great plans for the sport, and excited to see that continue on for quite some time."
The veteran driver-owner also pointed to the seven-year media rights deal that NASCAR signed last fall with Fox Sports, NBC Sports, Amazon Prime, and Warner Brothers Discovery.
"Right now, the sport lives and dies off of the media rights deal, and there's no getting around that," Keselowski said. "So when the media rights deal gets done -- or got done this winter -- that was a big, big deal for sport. Now that you're seeing the dominoes fall behind that."
According to Jenna Fryer of the Associated Press, sources used words such as "coerced and threatened" when discussing the teams that signed the charter agreement.
Keselowski pushed back on this slightly during his media availability, saying "Forced is a really strong term, but we are getting to a spot where it's important to get these things settled."
Forced or not, the decision of two teams to not sign the charter agreement will have ripple effects heading toward the end of the 2025 season.