Despite all the hype about NASCAR being a close-knit family, the reality is a little messier. Cooperation is easy on the racetrack: drivers trust the people in their ear, pit staff synchronize, and spotters communicate. But off course? The family dynamic of the sport begins to resemble a group attempting to manage the same household using different playbooks.

First, there is a family-run league; then there are teams that run their own companies; finally, there are tracks owned by both outside parties and NASCAR. Even though not everyone is rowing in the same direction, everyone wants the sport to expand. And that’s where NASCAR’s true issue (and potential) begins, according to a veteran insider of Brad Keselowski.

Chip Bowers urges teams to unite for a stronger future

Chip Bowers issued a strong warning to NASCAR teams about the critical nature of their cooperation and shared stake in the sport’s future. Highlighting the unique structure of NASCAR’s leadership and team dynamics, Bowers outlined the current working relationship between teams and league management.

“The teams own the league in essence,” the Brad Keselowski team president explained, noting the dual flow of information in NASCAR’s ecosystem. Teams are not merely participants but pivotal drivers of the league’s direction. “There’s both a bubbling up and a trickling down scenario where the teams are actually bubbling up ideas and articulating the challenges that they have, to people at the league headquarters.”

The team owners voiced their concerns about the playoff system, prompting NASCAR to consider changes for the 2026 season. This bottom-up communication helps shape league policies, including media rights agreements, revenue sharing, and best practices that affect all teams.

With that, Bowers stressed the need for better collaboration among the teams themselves.

NASCAR’s blend of the France family ownership, with third-party track owners, creates a complex backdrop. “The teams are also working somewhat independently. I think that’s where I think there’s tremendous opportunity inside, you know, the NASCAR family to work better across teams, so all the teams will have a better opportunity to share successes,” he explained.

The message from Chip Bowers was clear.

The future of NASCAR rests on cooperation, vision, and group development. The demand for unity is universal, notwithstanding the sport’s particular structure. Bowers thinks the entire NASCAR ecosystem will rise together if teams can coordinate their efforts and share tactics, expertise, and long-term objectives.

Bowers draws lessons from the Golden State Warriors for NASCAR rebuild

The 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season will be Chip Bowers’ first full year in stock-car racing as the recently hired president of RFK Racing. However, he is by no means unfamiliar with high-stakes, high-expectation situations. Having been in the NBA, MLB, and other major sports throughout his career, he has a unique perspective on what it takes to build a successful company from both competitive and commercial standpoints.

Bowers’ most formative chapter came with the Golden State Warriors.

He was there for three NBA championships, but what stuck with him most wasn’t the glory years. Rather, it was the stretch when success wasn’t guaranteed.

The Warriors entered one season as a lottery team, with Steph Curry battling ankle issues and little reason for optimism. Yet the organization didn’t waver. The preparation remained championship-level even when the results didn’t match.

Speaking with Adam Stern of Sports Business Journal, Bowers explained that mindset.

“When I got to the Warriors, we were coming off a lottery team that Steph [Curry] had had ankle troubles – we weren’t expected to win. And what I learned in that experience is you operate on a parallel path, truly believing on the competition side that they’re going to achieve their objective, and we’ve got to be as a business prepared to take full advantage of that, and we’re going to do that at RFK Racing.”

RFK had a season full of near-misses in 2025. None of its three Cup drivers earned a win, though several came painfully close, including Brad Keselowski, who led in the Phoenix finale until Ryan Blaney slipped underneath him exiting Turn 4.

In NASCAR, heartbreak is measured in inches, and emotional recovery has to be just as fast as the cars.

Bowers’ cross-sport expertise becomes instrumental in this situation. He has witnessed the reset, reconstruction, and subsequent emergence of elite teams.

RFK has continuously improved its performance and branding since Keselowski joined in 2021. With Bowers taking over, RFK now looks ready for its next big step: converting promise into consistent, championship-level momentum.