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Another NASCAR season is behind us, with some great moments, while in other moments the fans were not particularly satisfied. Joey Logano managed to turn things in his favor, and in the end he celebrated. Although many pass the question regarding the playoff system and its logic, NASCAR leaders believe that the rules must be followed and that in the end, the one who deserves the most wins.
Given that we are entering the New Year in a few days, we decided to analyze the season behind us, with the moments that marked 2024.
According to many, the three most important moments of this season are primarily the clash between Stenhouse Jr. and Kyle Busch during the All-Star Race. Although few expected things to get so heated, Stenhouse Jr. decided to punch Busch after he was wrecked.
Kyle Busch was clear at the time: "He's been known to crash a lot of stuff. He essentially got let go from one of his teams because he wrecked too much. He just crashed a lot. Sometimes even on his own."
For many, the most important moment of this season was the charter negotiations between NASCAR and the teams, and the two teams, 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports, did not want to write the document and decided to sue NASCAR.
In the end, these two teams can be delighted, considering that they will have the right to compete next year. We will see in which direction they will go in this case, and who will win in the end.
NASCAR president, Steve Phelps, explained in November of this year how he sees things. The experienced face of this sport is aware of the public's reaction and the frustrations that exist but has no intention of going deeper into it or leaving room for the media to speculate what the main problem in the story is. The most important thing for him is the rationality of the other owners, who had no doubts whether to accept the offer.
Steve stressed that the money that the teams will earn from next year will be the biggest so far, which can be a great motive and a great basis for the development of NASCAR teams.
This case caused controversy, not only in the NASCAR world but also in the world of sports. The fans are mostly on the team's side, believing that everyone must raise their voice and fight for what they think they deserve. Do you think that Front Row Motorsport and 23XI Racing are doing the right thing? Regardless of our perspective, it is clear that this case will take time.
"I know people are frustrated about that," Phelps said. "We are not going to negotiate in the media about charters, ever. And we are very happy that 32 of the 36 charters were extended because those were race teams that, where the deal that was put on the table for them, the primary big win for the race teams was money.
I won't go into what the money split looks like, but what I will say is that the amount of money, it now puts the race teams, starting in '25, as the single largest beneficiary of our media deal. And we did that because the race teams were upside down financially."
Denny Hamlin revealed a few months ago that the negotiations between the NASCAR leaders and his team are not going in the best direction, mentioning that they are stalling. An experienced motorsports person feels that one side should understand the importance of this case for everyone.
“Stagnant,” he said. “One side will have to wake up and be reasonable,” he said. “That’s all.”
The 44-year-old has no doubt that his team is on the right track. Analyzing the situation in this sport, it is clear that some of the teams are ready to agree to any option in order to be part of this sport in the coming period. Hamlin's team, as well as Front Row Motorsports, showed courage, not wanting to settle for the 'minimum' for years. The popular driver has the feeling that many teams are satisfied with small things, not wanting to fight for rights.
“I believe I am from our standpoint, but it depends on who you ask,” Hamlin continued. “But certainly, I feel like yeah, there’s probably a handful of teams that are just happy to take any deal that they can get and there’s others with some business sense that says this is unreasonable."
The 23XI Racing owner does not want to criticize others, highlighting that everyone has the right to do what is best for their team.
Do you consider this a good move, and do you expect Hamlin's team to win? They seem to have a good foundation for it.
“But everyone is going to do what their own – what they want to do that’s best for their team and each one of the teams will execute an agreement that they feel is fair for themselves.”
English (US)