At last, the High Limit Racing charter system has something more tangible than just speculation as the Brad Sweet, Kyle Larson and FloRacing owned national Sprint Car series made public what the system will look like over the remainder of the decade.
For one, it’s no longer called a ‘charter system’ but instead, the ownership tokens are called franchises similar to stick-and-ball sport teams like the Los Angeles Lakers or New York Yankees but scaled down to Sprint Car financial terms.
“Franchises are basically a permanent asset for team owners,” said Sweet during a Thursday press conference at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. “It’s a partnership between the team owners and the series, and we think it creates a foundation for everyone to grow. It’s a win-win situation to grow our wonderful sport of Sprint Car racing.
“It allows us to work hand and hand and gives the team owners some knowledge and transparency on what is going on with the series and the avenues we are seeking for growth. It sets us up for success and the teams up for success, as well.”
This was a selling point to Sprint Car teams from the moment the national tour was first announced in advance of the 2024 season. More or less, last season and this season functionally acts no different than the World of Outlaws but teams were promised a reward come 2026 for sticking with the series over the first two seasons.
That reward comes in the form of $2.6 million dollars in money split between the inaugural group of 10 franchise owning teams in advance of the 2026 season. These are permanent assets that once earned can be bought or sold — allowing team owners to create predictable annual revenue and long-term equity beyond the perks of on-track performance.
And should a team owner decides to get out of the sport for whatever reason, that asset can be sold as a ‘cash out.’
Note below, that the first year advertised dollar amount is $4 million but the addition $1.4 million in addition to the $2.6 million charter payouts is for purse and contingency dollars for non-chartered teams that enter High Limit events.
“They see the guarantees, and they want to make sure that we aren’t changing some of the dynamics of the sport that make it so great,” Sweet said. “Purse money isn’t involved in those guarantees. It’s a different way to pay the point money and tow money, which is tied to those guarantees.
“We are going to continue to grow the purse money and grow our events. The permanent franchise members aren’t going to have guaranteed starting spots in the A-Main. You are still going to have to go out and race at a high level.”
Right now, four teams have earned franchises based on the full season results from last season. They are Kasey Kahne Racing, Clauson Marshall Racing, Abreu Motorsports and Brent Marks Racing. Roth Motorsports had earned a franchise but pulled one of their two national touring teams and are instead all-in on just the World of Outlaws with Buddy Kofoid.
As a result, six additional franchises will be awarded after this season and they will go to the highest championship points finishers that did not earn one last season.
There are seven teams returning from last season racing for the final six franchises of this period and they are Jason Meyers Racing, Buch Motorsports, CJB Motorsports, Ridge & Sons Racing, Rod Gross Motorsports, Rudeen Racing and Kasey Kahne Racing’s other entry.
The 2026 payout seen above will be determined based on running performance over the past two seasons.
“It’s a two-year running average, and your point finishes are going to dictate where your franchise is,” Sweet said. “There is still extreme motivation for the race car driver to run well night in and night out, so it’s just a lot of added value without taking away from the sport.”
In other words, moving forward, this payout model replaces the championship fund and tow money system used by the series last year and by the World of Outlaws in its Platinum Agreement for much of recent memory.
The details have yet to be made concrete but the series will issue a incremental payment system over the course of the season to franchise holding team owners.
“We’ll disclose that with the teams on what exactly the payment schedule will look like,” Sweet said. “Those are some of the details that we want to sit down with them and make sure it works for everyone but the values are there and how they are paid out will come.”
This is not a top heavy model either, obviously, with reasonable splits all the way through the top-10 that grows over the first two seasons from $2.6 million in the first season to $2.9 million in the second. The series also plans to expand the franchise model to 15 teams come 2028 and 2029, eventually committing $5 million in available revenue for both franchise and non-franchise competitors.
So where is all this money coming from? Both FloRacing general manager Michael Rigsby and Sweet took turns answering and suggested it’s coming from current advertising and subscriber revenue while also projecting for growth.
“I think looking long term at High Limit the series, I think the belief is there for growth through sponsorship, through streaming revenue, through the actual growth of the series, through advertising,” Rigsby said. “A lot of buckets go into making things like this happen, right, … so anything that makes that up that goes into it.”
Sweet added that ‘everything that we saw last year, the growth, what we did in Year One, is what is allowing us to make that commitment.’
The other obvious question is how this compares to World of Outlaws as this is now the second year in which there is now two national tours.
World of Outlaws champion David Gravel and Big Game Motorsports earned somewhere in the ballpark of $400,000 between his championship earning and Platinum Agreement payouts. The High Limit model exceeds what World Racing Group currently provides its member teams so expect a response from the Brian Carter led organization as it works to keep pace and entice teams to race with The Greatest Show on Dirt as well.
Kahne, by the way, who has now won six consecutive national championships as a team owner with Sweet says his team has never broken even and that is the directional goal of this model.
“You race all year long and you try to win as much money, win the championship, all those things and we’ve had great sponsors but I’m still putting a lot of my own money and I’m worn out,” Kahne said. “So now I have something to look forward to at the next year, before the season even starts, where we stack up.
“I think it’s pretty awesome to have that and to know it’s growing and it’s starting in a really good spot. It’s exciting for KKR, myself and all my partners as well.”
Tim Clauson was present for the announcement too and praised the model for what it could do for a team owner when he decides to step away.
“Two years ago, we were a regional team running with the All Stars (Circuit of Champions) and we were kind of on the verge of do we go national racing, do we go World of Outlaws and when we sat down and looked at it, and look to the future, there was no light,” Clauson said. “You get to the end of the year and try to cover the losses and get ready for the next year.
“So when Brad and Kyle came up with this idea and started talking to us about it, I’ve been in this sport for 35-40 years and this was the first light that has been at the end of the tunnel. Now there’s something.
“To see what they’ve come up with, we’ve ran the numbers, if we do what we did last year, that’s a 40 to 50 percent improvement for us and there’s year over year growth as well. It gives us something to look forward to, to not only building our team, but to have a stake in building the series too because that rewards us as owners.”
Sweet echoed that sentiment.
“Franchises are basically a permanent asset for team owners,” Sweet said. “It’s a partnership between the team owners and the series, and we think it creates a foundation for everyone to grow. It’s a win-win situation to grow our wonderful sport of Sprint Car racing.
“It allows us to work hand and hand and gives the team owners some knowledge and transparency on what is going on with the series and the avenues we are seeking for growth. It sets us up for success and the teams up for success, as well.”
Lastly, why call it them franchises instead of charters and does it have anything to do with the dramatics of the 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports versus NASCAR lawsuit?
“Honestly, when I tried to explain what a charter is to people outside of racing, they would say ‘oh it’s a franchise,’ and I just felt like franchise was a more mainstream term,” Sweet said. “It’s what all the sports leagues in the US use and a term I thought more mainstream people that don’t know what dirt track racing is, they see ‘franchise’ and realize it’s just like any other professional league or series.”
