What does it mean to be a NASCAR sanctioned short track?

Story updated with broadcast rights compensation details on 1/31/25 at 11:00 a.m.

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For $20,000 a year, or $21,000 if paying in four equal increments, or $1,500 per event, a local short track can acquire NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series sanctioning and everything that comes with that distinction.

What is that distinction exactly?

There is a lot to a NASCAR Regional sanctioning agreement but the short version is that track membership allows competitors who race at a sanctioned facility to be eligible for national, regional and state championship money put up by ‘NASCAR Event Management.’

As detailed in the agreement:

“This sanction entitles eligible Competitors in Events at the Facility to participate in the and compete for NASCAR Weekly Series championship points; point fund and award distributions; applicable participant accident coverage; and other benefits afforded to licensed NASCAR members in good standing through NEM and/or the NASCAR Weekly Series.”

As stated above, competitors with a NASCAR membership are also covered under an insurance policy.

“A portion of the NEM Sanction Fee includes the cost of Participant Accident Coverage based on the premium rates as of the time this Application is submitted by the PROMOTER.”

The track itself must provide general liability coverage acceptable to NASCAR as per the terms outlined in the agreement each year.

But upon obtaining NASCAR Weekly Series sanctioning, a track then has access to certain intellectual properties for promotion — like logos, title sponsorship logos and marketing activation packets provided from those parties.

The tracks have to make available a certain amount of signage space to place specified logos around the facility.

Currently, NASCAR and Advance Auto Parts put a great deal of effort into providing promoters tools to best activate their track as members of the Weekly Series and each of the various championships.

In addition to the national, regional and state championships there are also Division I, Division II, Division III, Division IV and Division V championships as decided by each track.

There is also contingency money put up for rookies of the year at the national, regional and state levels.

In becoming a Weekly Series member track, the promoter also agrees to broadcast rights provisions with NASCAR Event Management — which currently means the partnership that FloRacing has to broadcast Weekly Series and regional touring events.

From the document:

“PROMOTER acknowledges that NASCAR, exclusively and in perpetuity owns the Live Transmission Rights and Ancillary Rights with respect to the Events. In addition, to the extent not already owned by NASCAR, PROMOTER hereby assigns to NEM exclusively and in perpetuity any and all rights to transmit, film, tape, capture, overhear, photograph, collect or record by any means, process, medium or device, whether or not currently in existence, all images, sounds (including, without limitation the public address (P.A.) audio) and data arising from or during the Events and agrees that NEM shall further assign, exclusively and in perpetuity, to NASCAR all right, title and interest in and to the Live Transmission Rights and the Ancillary Rights and any other works, copyrightable or otherwise, created from the images, sounds and data arising from or during the Events, and that NASCAR shall be the sole and ultimate owner thereto.”

Tracks that appear on the FloRacing platform do receive broadcast compensation. There are guaranteed payouts for tentpole events and weekly events respectively but also performance based bonuses paid out when met.

While not specifically related to the Weekly Series agreement, tracks that host regional touring events like ARCA East, ARCA West and the Whelen Modified Tour also receive compensation in having events air on FloRacing.

NASCAR also has the right to transfer those rights to another broadcast partner, for example taking the FloRacing broadcast of the Madhouse Modified Clash and putting it on the Tubi FAST channel. NASCAR does not have to further compensate the tracks when those events are placed on a different broadcast platform.

From the document:

“NASCAR or such NASCAR Rights Affiliates may further assign, grant, sell, license, lease or otherwise transfer such rights, either alone or in combination with other similar rights, combine Live Transmission Rights and Ancillary Rights with other similar rights obtained from other promoters, Competitors, sponsors, NEM, transmitters, broadcasters or other third parties, enter into agreements of any kind with respect to any part or all of such rights, including without limitation agreements with or between NASCAR and other NASCAR Rights Affiliates, PROMOTER, or third parties, and generally take such action as they may determine to be appropriate. Subject only to the obligation imposed on NASCAR by the immediately succeeding sentence in this Section 23.A., NASCAR may license, assign, or otherwise transfer rights in or to any NASCAR Intellectual Property for a commercially reasonable rate to one or more NASCAR Rights Affiliates, but any income or revenue received or generated by NASCAR as a result of such a transaction shall be solely for the account of NASCAR or its assignee and shall not be subject to payment to the PROMOTER or any other person or entity under the terms of this Sanction Agreement.”

While not explicitly stated within the agreement, NASCAR member tracks are also frequently provided credits with official league partners like Whelen Engineering or Sherwin Williams paint for track improvement reasons.

It’s in NASCAR’s best interest, and those of official series partners, that member tracks that decide national, regional and state championships look as modern as possible while appearing on platforms like FloRacing.

Additionally, being a NASCAR Regional track means coverage on NASCAR.com and the NASCAR Regional social media platforms in the form of features and editorials.

The complete agreement, this one from last season, can be viewed below.