Dale Earnhardt Jr. Explains How $150 Million Evergreen Charters Are “Going to Change NASCAR Forever”

NASACR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr. perfectly explained how the permanent charters will change the sport even before the settlement.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Explains How $150 Million Evergreen Charters Are “Going to Change NASCAR Forever”

Dale Earnhardt Jr. (Via IMAGO)

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The NASCAR charter lawsuit trial is finally over, as the teams and sport leadership made enough sacrifices to settle the legal battle that was getting uglier every week. The biggest outcome was the permanent or the evergreen charters that makes the premier stock car racing championship a franchise model similar to NFL or NBA.

NASACR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr. in his podcast released a couple of days before the settlement perfectly explained how the new charter system is going to work. Everyone knows it’s going to change the sports, with teams now having an asset worth around $150 million in their hands compared to the $25-40 million value the charters previously had.

Talking about them, Junior pointed out that this is going to change forever with the evergreen charters as NASACR has basically become a franchise league. This will create a massive barrier to entry for upcoming teams, as unlike in the past the NASACR ventures will require massive investment. It will be a death sentence for smaller part-time teams that had long-term plans.

If that happens, there is no going back. Like, it changes the sport forever. You’ll basically have 36 franchises — however many cars start a race — they’ll be the franchises, owned and valued and they will sell and trade from one entity to another over the course of decades and centuries, however long this goes. They’ll be a gigantic barrier of entry.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. said via Dale Jr Download.

This will affect the Hall of Famer’s future plan as well, as entering the Cup Series has always been his team JR Motorsports plan. They didn’t make the move for years because of the massive investment it needed and now with the new charter deal set be signed post-lawsuit, they can no longer enter the sport themselves. The sport won’t be the same as it has been for the last 75 years.

As we’ve known racing for 75 years, if you wanted to build a Cup car and show up at a race and try to compete, you did. Probably not gonna go all that well, you’re gonna compete against the regular teams and that’s what it was, but you could. That’ll be gone forever.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. added.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. explains how the charters are worth $150 million overnight

One of the major reasons behind limited investment in NASCAR teams, unlike other sports, was the risk in investing in charters that didn’t offer a long-term guarantee. With the evergreen charters the team has more control over their assets, and gives them a solid exit plan if things go south. Junior pointed out that these factors will cause a massive increase in the value of the charters.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. (via Imago)
Dale Earnhardt Jr. (via Imago)

If the charter remains nothing more than a guaranteed entry into a single event, I think then values remain where they are today. What the teams have recognized are if those charters were to become permanent and therefore basically a franchise, the values are well north of $150 million. So, you’re sitting there with a charter that’s worth let’s say $25 million and by the stroke of Jim France’s pen, it will now be $150 million.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. said.

Furthermore, he pointed out that every charter owner, even the ones that signed the 2025 deal willingly was secretly hoping that the lawsuit will give them permanent charters. It was the ultimate decision everyone other than NASACR leadership expected and they got that with teh settlement.

If you’re a charter owner, of course you’re hoping for that to happen. I believe, secretly, even the people that signed the Charter Agreement that someway, somehow, in the end, that these do become permanent. That is the ultimate decision that I think comes out of this whole trial.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. added.

The result of the lawsuit has put the teams in a stronger position going forward and though the things are complicated at the moment, in the long run the sport will benefit from the change. It would be interesting to see how these changes are going to bring potential new investments to NASACR.

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