IndyCar Announces Charter System
In a major move that solidifies the business of IndyCar racing for its teams, the IndyCar Series officially announced a Charter System that begins in 2025 and extends through 2031.
Ten IndyCar Series owners have been awarded 25 Charters competing in North America's premier open wheel racing series, beginning immediately.
The Charters were announced by IndyCar at 10 a.m. on September 23.
This is the first charter system to be introduced in the history of the NTT IndyCar Series. A chartered entry is guaranteed a starting position on the grid at all NTT IndyCar Series races, excluding the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge. An entry also must be chartered to qualify for the annual NTT IndyCar Series Leaders Circle program – an annual award program, which compensates the 22 top finishers in the prior year's NTT IndyCar Series championship.
The terms of the initial, long term charter agreements are committed through the end of 2031.
Charters were extended to team owners based on full time entries over the previous two seasons with a maximum of three awarded per team.
The Chartered 2025 IndyCar Teams include AJ Foyt Enterprises with two entries, Andretti Global with three, Arrow McLaren with three, Chip Ganassi Racing with three, Dale Coyne Racing with two, Ed Carpenter Racing with two, Juncos Hollinger Racing with two, Meyer Shank Racing with two, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing with three and Team Penske with three.
"This is an important development that demonstrates an aligned and optimistic vision for the future of our sport," said Penske Entertainment Corp. President and CEO Mark Miles. "I want to extend my sincere appreciation to our team owners for their collaboration and ideation throughout this process. Ultimately, we're pleased to have a system in place that provides greater value for our ownership and the entries they field."
The Charter announcement was positively received by many of its team owners, who all wanted to be protected for their investment in the IndyCar Series.
"We are very pleased to begin this new era," team owner Ed Carpenter said. "The process has been thorough but, in the end, very exciting. This charter system will clearly strengthen our teams as we continue to grow the sport. I would like to thank Roger Penske and his entire team at IndyCar.
"ECR will have announcements soon and I don't know that they would be possible without the help of a program like this. With this groundbreaking development, the new TV deal with FOX and the momentum that has been building, IndyCar's future is very bright."
The 2024 NTT IndyCar Series season concluded with the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix at Nashville Superspeedway on September 15. The Charter System was not announced as the focus was on crowning the 2024 Champion, but team owners at Nashville had already agreed to the structure of the Charter System.
"We'll sign it," McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown told a private group of reporters on September 15. "I have found that there's nothing material in there that drives for us any substantial incremental value. So, if the hype was this is going to be a big thing and be great for the foundation of an IndyCar team, I haven't seen those benefits. So, I'll sign it.
"It's not bad. I think it's good that it's a first step. But there's no revenue sharing model."
Some team owners sought guaranteed starting positions for the 33-car starting lineup for the Indianapolis 500, but that was met with bitter resistance from the fan base that follow IndyCar.
To many of those most vocal critics, it reminded them of the 25-and-8 rule that was implemented by the Indy Racing League in 1995 that led to CART teams boycotting the 1996 Indianapolis 500 that guaranteed 25 of the 33-car starting positions to the top 25 teams in IRL points. The remaining eight positions would be CART teams that had to qualify for the race.
That led to the infamous split between CART and the IRL, with many fans turning on the sport and never coming back.
"At Indy, I don't have a guaranteed spot," Brown said. "It really only helps, from my perspective, helps in an event if a race is oversubscribed.
"If we had a shunt in qualifying or a shunt like we had yesterday and couldn't qualify, I'm protected to make the race.
"From what I can see, that's what I'm getting."
IndyCar Championship team owner Chip Ganassi was part of the NASCAR Charter System before he sold his Charters to Trackhouse owner Justin Marks in July 2021 beginning with the 2022 NSCAR Cup Series season.
Ganassi believes IndyCar's Charter System is a good first step to protecting a team owner's value and equity in creating a team.
"Every single question that everybody in the IndyCar paddock has had about Charter System is like a repeat of 10 years ago when they did NASCAR charters," Ganassi said. "You feel like just saying to somebody, 'Don't worry about that. This is what will happen.' It's just a carbon copy.
"They are all valid questions. It's not like they don't know what they're talking about, but they're all questions with anyone with a modicum of business acumen would ask. But the net positive is just incredible.
"It's a really good thing. And it's going to add value to every team and granted, it's not the size of the NASCAR charter guarantee. But it's a hell of a start. It's a hell of a running start. So, I think it's a great thing."
Beginning next season, Chip Ganassi Racing will have an engineering alliance with Meyer Shank Racing. Just last week, Chip Ganassi Racing driver Marcus Armstrong announced he would be joining Meyer Shank Racing in 2025.
"The charter agreement, to me, is the single-most important piece for the future of the series," team owner Michael Shank said. "I'm grateful that we all came together on this and thank the Roger Penske group for working with the team owners for getting it done."
Larry Foyt is AJ Foyt's son and the President of AJ Foyt Racing. He believes the Charter System is vital to protect his two-car operation after decades of participating in IndyCar.
"I appreciate the efforts made by the IndyCar and Penske leadership groups as well as all the owners to get this charter system started," Larry Foyt said. "It is incredibly challenging to get a large group of owners to agree on something, and certainly there was some give and take but, in the end, I believe this is a path that is beneficial for all of the owners and for IndyCar, while also maintaining the availability for open competition."
The 25 represents the total number of Charters. No IndyCar Series team owner can have more than three Charters.
Of those 25, those entrants will compete for the 22 Leaders Circle positions. The Leaders Circle pays over $1 million to each entry in the top 22 in points that competes in every event of the season.
The 27 indicates the total number of cars that can compete in each race, except for the Indianapolis 500 and its traditional 33-car starting lineup.
That doesn't mean IndyCar is discouraging new teams from participating in its races. If two "Open" cars show up for a race (outside of the top 25 that have Charters), the 25 would be in the race along with the two extra cars.
If four "Open" cars show up for a race, then the 25 Charters would be in the race and the four non-Charter entries would have to qualify for the two positions in the starting grid.
That means two of those four would go home if they were not fast enough to make the field.
"The importance of a Charter is the teams now have a valuation of their operation," Miles said. "They own an asset that's this Charter, this agreement, which, at the moment looks like it will be for seven years."
