There are 38 teams committed to full-time racing in 2016. Four weren’t awarded charters ‘ Joe Gibbs Racing’s #19-Carl Edwards (team started in 2015), Stewart-Haas Racing’s #41-Kurt Busch (2014), HScott Motorsports’ #46-Michael Annett (2015) and #21-Wood Brothers Racing’s Ryan Blaney (formerly part-time team now going full time). Former Michael Waltrip Racing owner Rob Kauffman, who has two charters from his teams that ceased operations after last year, said he expects to sell his charters to JGR (for Edwards) and SHR (for Busch). Kauffman estimated the value of a charter at the ‘single-digit millions.’ The transfer of a charter must be approved by NASCAR, which will charge an administrative fee but not get a percentage of the sale. All NASCAR team owners will be allowed to see the transfer application, which would include the price of the charter sold. Charters can only be sold prior to the start of a season and can be transferred only once every five years.(NBC Sports)
AND According to Motorsports’ Lee Spencer, ‘Been told Jay Robinson (Premium Motorsports) has leased his charter to @Team_HSM #46. Hearing $1.6m for lease of charter.(2-9-2016)
UPDATE: A representative for SHR said Tuesday afternoon that ‘Stewart-Haas Racing will have four Charters and that process is nearly complete.’ A Joe Gibbs Racing representative said Tuesday afternoon that it was ‘just a matter of finalizing the transaction’ that would bring a Charter to the #19 entry.(NASCAR.com)
AND: ESPN.com’s Bob Pockrass tweeted that an HScott spokesman said: ‘HSM intends to field two full time cars for the 2016 season and is in the process of finalizing an agreement.’
