Bubba Wallace remains at 23XI Racing.
The team announced Wednesday that Wallace had signed a contract extension. A continued relationship was highly likely, but Wallace said a few weeks ago that his contract negotiations with the team were affected by what was happening with NASCAR’s charter agreement.
23XI Racing, the team owned by Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan, was one of two teams that did not sign the franchise agreement with NASCAR. The current charter agreement expires at the end of the season and the teams had been negotiating with NASCAR for months. 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports opted not to sign the charter agreement and 23XI said in a statement earlier this month that “we have not had the opportunity to fairly negotiate a new charter agreement.”
The teams were asking NASCAR for a higher percentage of revenue from the new media rights deal that begins in 2025. The broadcast deal is the primary source of non-sponsor revenue for teams and is the primary source of revenue for NASCAR and the tracks that host the races.
Two weeks ago in Atlanta, Wallace said “that’s what we expect” when asked directly by members of the media whether the charter negotiations affected the finalization of his contract extension.
“I know my process has been pretty consistent with the charter agreement,” Wallace said. “It’s frustrating to see where we are because it impacts my livelihood and everything that’s going to happen for my future. That’s really all I have to say about it.”
23XI has not indicated that it will withdraw from NASCAR if it does not sign the NASCAR lease agreement. The lease agreement guarantees spots in every race for the 36 leased cars and those cars also receive a larger share of purse money. Without more than 40 cars hitting the track each week, the worst-case scenario for the team is that Wallace and Tyler Reddick will be running as “open” cars each week if 23XI does not have any leased cars next season.
Reddick won the regular season title and is currently sixth in the standings. ranking by points Wallace missed the first two playoff races and is 19th in the standings with five top-five finishes and 10 top-10 finishes. In four seasons with the team, Wallace has won two races and was 10th in the points standings a season ago.
