RFK Racing faces the possibility next season of needing to run one of its three The Chase contenders in an unchartered car. If the team wants to change that, it could come at a staggering cost.
The Athletic‘s motorsports reporter Jordan Bianchi wrote this week that the low-end estimate to acquire a permanent charter in the Cup Series is “approaching $100 million,” and it could be even higher.
Related: Specific RFK Racing Driver Could Lose Chartered Status in 2027
RFK is currently leasing a charter from Rick Ware Racing for the 2026 season. However, that charter was sold to Legacy Motor Club to complete the team’s expansion to three full-time drivers in 2027.
A $100-plus million charter is the type of price tag that teams with deep pockets—Spire Motorsports, 23XI Racing, Hendrick Motorsports and Team Penske—could likely afford. That’s not necessarily the case with RFK’s financial situation.
It puts RFK in a similar situation to what team owners in the National Football League are increasingly facing. While it’s to a more extreme degree—with NFL franchise values now eclipsing $7 billion—NASCAR teams will likely need to target partnerships with private equity groups to afford rising costs.
Related: Young Driver Named Favorite for New Charter at Legacy
To that point, John Ourand of Puck reported in January that private equity groups and media corporations had “informal talks” about the potential process of taking a minority ownership stake in NASCAR. Likewise, there is similar interest in teams, with Spire’s pockets an example of how financial backing from private equity can help fund operations.
So, if RFK wants to obtain a charter to ensure that Ryan Preece, Brad Keselowski and Chris Buescher are all eligible for every race and can receive the full slotted purse for their finishes, they’ll need to find the money to acquire another charter.
What NASCAR Charter Could Be Available?
Credit: John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports
NASCAR still has four charters that it can sell, but none of them are likely going to be made available to RFK. Under the new agreement signed this year, NASCAR can create and sell four new charters to a new OEM entering the Cup Series, which is expected to be Ram.
That leaves the only option for RFK of leasing or outright buying a charter from another team. Spire, 23XI, Penske, Joe Gibbs Racing, Richard Childress Racing and Trackhouse Racing have no intention of downsizing.
Meanwhile, Hyak Motorsports just committed to another season with a full-time driver in the Cup Series by extending Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Likewise, Wood Brothers Racing is expected to retain Josh Berry.
That leaves Rick Ware Racing and the Haas Factory Team. The likeliest option would be RWR selling its lone remaining charter, but even that might take some convincing since it would push Cody Ware out of the Cup Series.
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