Trackhouse Racing owner speaks out about NASCAR’s claims of coercion

Trackhouse Racing and twelve other teams signed NASCAR’s final charter offer by Saturday’s midnight deadline. The deal has since been surrounded by drama, with accusations of coercion and pressure from groups to sign the deal. Justin Marks, owner of Trackhouse Racing, has voiced his opinion on the controversial situation, offering a view that contradicts that of 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports, who chose not to sign the deal.

NASCAR’s final charter offer was presented to the teams the previous Friday at 6pm ET, giving them just 30 hours to make a decision.

Despite this tight window, thirteen teams, including Trackhouse Racing, accepted the deal. Soon, however, there were whispers of coercion. Jenna Fryer of the Associated Press reports that NASCAR’s ultimatum to the teams was blunt:

“Sign or we’ll revoke your charter.”

Fryer highlighted on social media that this could be “scary language for a family business”, raising concerns about the fairness and integrity of the process.

Justin Marks has offered his take on the allegations, suggesting that the final offer was not forced, but a necessary limit set by NASCAR in negotiations.

“I think everybody can interpret that in their own way. To me, no matter how you want to build the story around it, it’s ultimately NASCAR’s court. And they said, ‘negotiations are over. This is the deal. It’s not This is the deal on the table.

“And ultimately we have to make a decision.

“And I looked at it and I said, ‘Well, I’m not going anywhere, so we’re going to sign it.'” So you can interpret it any way you want, Marks explained SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Marks admitted that his relationship with NASCAR has always been a partnership philosophy.

“Each team and team owner has their own relationship with NASCAR and mine, my philosophy always comes from a place of partnership and collaboration.

“So, I don’t necessarily feel that it was,” he noted, referring to the perceived coercion.

In contrast, 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports decided not to sign the deal by the deadline. This decision stemmed from frustration with the negotiation process, which 23XI co-owner Denny Hamlin has publicly criticized.

23XI Racing explained in a statement:

“23XI decided not to meet NASCAR’s deadline last night to sign charter agreements for its two cars for 2025-2031. 23XI’s position in the letter to NASCAR is that we did not have the opportunity to fairly negotiate a new charter agreement.

“We notified NASCAR in writing of the issues that needed to be addressed by the deadline. We are interested in entering into constructive discussions with NASCAR to resolve these issues. And move forward in a way that leads to a fair resolution while strengthening the sport we all love.”

Marks acknowledged the compromises made in the final agreement, but expressed some acceptance and considered it the end of a necessary negotiation process.

“If the day doesn’t come when somebody finally goes, ‘we’re here, we’ve lasted as long as we need to,’ then it never will. The negotiations will never stop,” Marks said. He added:

“I personally was ready and waiting for the day when NASCAR said, ‘Here it is. We’ve done, we’ve covered all these things, and you know where we’re not going. We got down to business. where you want us, we have agreed 90% or 75% of it.

“It’s time to finish this thing.”