Wood Brothers respond to criticism of NASCAR Charter system

The Wood Brothers Racing team competed in the NASCAR Sprint Cup series fulltime in 2016.
The Wood Brothers Racing team will compete in the NASCAR Sprint Cup series fulltime in 2016.
The Wood Brothers Racing team will compete in the NASCAR Sprint Cup series fulltime in 2016.

The legendary Wood Brothers Racing team was one of the few losers among NASCAR teams Tuesday. NASCAR officially announced its new charter system Tuesday. The system is designed to ensure starting spots in all 36 NASCAR Sprint Cup points paying races and is expected to give team owners equity in the sport beyond they buildings and equipment owned by each.

The agreement gives NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Charters to 36 teams. It also establishes a Team Owner Council that will have formal input into decisions, and provides Charter teams with new revenue opportunities including a greater interest in digital operations.

A major part of the new agreement is a reduction in the size of fields that race each week. That field has been 43 entries but will now be reduced to 40. There will be 36 charters which will mean there will be four teams per week that will be considered “at large”. Each Charter team owner has a guaranteed entry into the field of every NASCAR Sprint Cup Series points race. Teams who have indicated they will race full time this season, and have competed full time since will receive the first Charters. In all, 36 teams will be guaranteed starting spots this season as holders of a Charter.

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Greg Engle
About Greg Engle 7421 Articles
Greg is a published award winning sportswriter who spent 23 years combined active and active reserve military service, much of that in and around the Special Operations community. Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.