“Get 2 Paychecks Out of Denny’s A**”—Bubba Wallace Insider on Board With RTA Exploring Exhibition Races Outside NASCAR

Open-wheel racing has long been synonymous with NASCAR. The monopoly that the organization has built over the last 70-odd years has helped suppress any rival leagues from coming up. But recent developments related to Bubba Wallace’s team 23XI Racing suggest that a major shake-up might be in order.

Race Team Alliance is a membership organization of all teams that own a charter in NASCAR. This coalition consists of all 36 teams, who can then put up their concerns and suggestions to NASCAR’s upper management. In other words, RTA lobbies for the team’s interests. 

It is believed that RTA is planning to introduce exhibition races outside the NASCAR calendar which will take place during the off-season. The biggest advantage of holding such races is believed to be the revenue earnings sourced from such races. Since NASCAR will have no involvement in these races, it will just be the teams sharing the revenue.

Freddie Kraft, Bubba Wallace’s spotter, was asked on the Door Bumper Clear podcast about his views. He said, “I think it’s great. It would be amazing. Get 2 paychecks out of Denny’s a**. I’m going to NASCAR races and RTA races, Denny. (everyone laughs) But no, this would be great if it happens. Fans win if they get to see their drivers more, I just see this more…”

WATCH: Bubba Wallace & Denny Hamlin Fail Miserably at Santa Claus Trivia Ahead of Christmas

A similar view was echoed by Tyler Reddick, Bubba’s teammate at 23XI, which incidentally is one of the teams considering this move. He said, “It’s interesting… The one thing I’ll say is I’m a race car driver, I love to race. So, honestly like it’s great that we get to go race like 37, 38 weekends a year on the Cup level.” However, the move is still in its nascent stages, and there’s time before it will materialize.

What stage is the RTA and NASCAR dispute on?

NASCAR will definitely not be too happy if drivers like Bubba Wallace, who are great crowd-pullers, start to race outside of the organization’s races. But any such occurrence is still a fair few months in the future.

Sports Business Journal reported that the RTA is still only in the ideation stage for the plan. They have been in touch with the sports marketing agency, Wasserman, to conduct field research about the financial feasibility and viability of any such move.

With teams struggling to bring their bottom line (or top line) up, profits have been hard to come by. Therefore, Wasserman has “been hired to explore exhibition race opportunities, both domestically and internationally, via a (request-for-information proposal) — very exploratory.”

Primary disputes between teams and NASCAR have been over the revenue-sharing arrangements. Multi-million-dollar deals are signed by NASCAR with media companies but the amount shared with teams is not sufficient, according to team owners.

Watch This Story: NASCAR Fans Applaud “Best Man” Bubba Wallace as He Spreads Holiday Cheer

With NASCAR looking to sign an even bigger deal—some believe they may breach the $1 billion per year mark in the new deal—these disputes have only intensified further. Furthermore, NASCAR will be wary of what happened between the PGA and LIV Golf, and they would be considering their moves carefully.