NASCAR teams navigating chaotic charter market ahead of 2022

FILE - NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France, right, speaks as team owner Richard Petty, left, listens during a news conference to announce a new charter system for team owners in Charlotte, N.C., in this Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2016, file photo. A charter is essentially the same as a franchise and the 36 that exist both guarantee a spot in the 40-car field each week as well as a larger slice of the money NASCAR contractually owes its participants. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton, File)

FILE - In this Saturday, Feb. 17, 2018, file photo, Justin Marks walks through the garage during practice for the NASCAR Daytona 500 Cup Series auto race at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Fla. JR Motorsports has had initial conversations about taking its team to NASCAR's top level, a step up to Cup that would be much smoother if it could get its hands on a charter. Trackhouse Racing finds itself in the same position as it looks ahead to its second season of Cup competition. Justin Marks said he lost out on three charters last year while he was forming his team and he ultimately leased a charter from Spire to guarantee Daniel Suarez could race each week. (AP Photo/Terry Renna, File)

FILE - In this Saturday, June 5, 2021, file photo, car owner Matt Kaulig gestures in Victory Lane after A.J. Allmendinger won a NASCAR Xfinity Series auto race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio. JR Motorsports has had initial conversations about taking its team to NASCAR's top level, a step up to Cup that would be much smoother if it could get its hands on a charter. Two charters went off the board earlier this month when Kaulig Racing purchased a pair from Spire Motorsports, a team that bought low and stockpiled when potential owners had little interest in NASCAR. (AP Photo/Tom E. Puskar, File)

FILE - Dale Earnhardt Jr. stands by the car he will drive in pre-race activities before the NASCAR Xfinity Series auto race at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, S.C., in this Saturday, May 8, 2021, file photo. The car is a Chevy Nova that his father drove in what is now the Xfinity Series. JR Motorsports has had initial conversations about taking its team to NASCAR's top level, a step up to Cup that would be much smoother if it could get its hands on a charter. “I heard $10 million, is that what you heard?” JRM co-owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. told The Associated Press. “I'm not paying that.”(AP Photo/Terry Renna, File)