Column: NASCAR teams fight for better safety and more money

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Since its first race in 1949, NASCAR has controlled the top motorsports series in the United States with an iron fist. The only drivers’ strike in NASCAR history failed when the Professional Drivers Association boycotted the inaugural race at Talladega Superspeedway and the stock car series simply brought in replacement drivers. NASCAR is facing unprecedented dissent, from drivers who are speaking freely about the safety concerns they have with the new Next Gen car and also from team owners, who essentially opened their books to reporters to argue that NASCAR’s business model is broken. Joey Logano said the safety briefing was long overdue: “That meeting should have happened Monday after Kurt’s crash, not waiting until Alex had his crash to at least hear us out.” NASCAR President Steve Phelps has acknowledged communication has been poor, even as the drivers and team owners have individually assembled their own councils to work with the sanctioning body. “Safety is the single most important thing for NASCAR.” Either way, the attempts by drivers and teams to wrest some of the power away from NASCAR has reached an extraordinary level.