The sacrifice was worth it. At least that’s what B.J. McLeod feels, after selling his Live Fast Motorsports charter for a staggering sum of $40 million to Spire Motorsports in 2023. While the 41-year-old misses the drama, action, and adrenaline rush that comes with competing as a full-time racer, it’s a small price to pay in the grander scheme of things. Getting above market value for its charter can be considered a great business decision, one that the Florida native doesn’t regret at all in hindsight.
He may have lost his charter, but McLeod isn’t stepping away from the racetrack anytime soon. The racing driver will continue to run part-time at NASCAR’s highest level, even though it doesn’t scratch the itch of competing in 36 races across the year.
McLeod misses the relationships he has made in the NASCAR community
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The news sent shockwaves in the NASCAR world. With Spire Motorsports determined to increase its Cup Series operations, few predicted that the charter purchase from Live Fast Motorsports would amount to $40 million. It’s the highest price anyone had ever paid for a charter since the NASCAR equivalent of a franchise system was introduced before the 2016 season. Considering that Jeff Dickerson and Thaddeus Puchyr had spent just $8 million for Furniture Row’s charter in 2018, the inflated value just five years later took everyone by surprise.
However, B.J. McLeod is not complaining. Reflecting on his decision, the driver said on Racer.com, “[I’m] very happy with the decision. If I had to say one way or the other, I’m happier now than I was a year ago. That decision is something I’ll always be thankful we had the opportunity (to do) and proud we went in that direction.” However, the 41-year-old misses not being able to compete more often and he went on to say, “Not being at the track every week is hard for (wife) Jessica and I because the NASCAR family is our family. We miss seeing the people. We were in this thing for 14 years, and a lot of that was full-time seasons. So it was difficult when we only went 12 times this year.”
With Live Fast Motorsports struggling to compete at NASCAR’s highest level, selling its charter seemed like the wisest course of action B.J McLeod and co-owner Matt Tifft could take. The anticipation of the new media rights deal, which eventually amounted to $7.7 billion, significantly inflated the charter prices, and the racing driver knew that the time was right to make the most out of a bad situation. A year later, Stewart-Haas Racing decided to shut down its NASCAR operations, but even they did not get the same value for its charters, highlighting just how smart a business decision it was. Adam Stern from the Sports Business Journal reported the price SHR got for their charter purchased by Front Row Motorsports, writing, “The exact sale price was unclear, but a person with direct knowledge of the matter confirmed it was between $20M-25M.”
Even though the decision came at the expense of limited NASCAR time, McLeod is still competing in the Cup Series when he can. He failed to qualify for the season-opening Daytona 500 after crashing out in qualifying, but McLeod performed reasonably well in three of his five starts for Live Fast Motorsports in 2024, finishing 25th or higher. The 41-year-old turned back the clock at Talladega Superspeedway, leading five laps, and showed glimpses of his old form at the 2024 Quaker State 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
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B.J. McLeod will continue racing in 2025
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It seems like B.J. McLeod isn’t planning to step away from the racetrack anytime soon. The veteran driver competed in seven races in 2024, attempting all superspeedway-style events at Daytona, Atlanta, and Talladega. Apart from competing five times in his No. 78 Live Fast Motorsports Chevy, the Florida native also made two appearances in MBM Motorsports’ No. 66 Ford at the Coca-Cola 600 and the Brickyard 400, two of the most iconic races on the NASCAR calendar, but failed to finish within the top-35.
Despite competing in 144 Cup Series races so far, McLeod has no plans of stopping anytime soon. The racer said, “I know we’ll be back at the track next year.” The 41-year-old believes he can compete for the next decade at the highest level as he went on to say, “I think for me, I could see myself doing exactly what Brendan (Gaughan) did and running the speedways, who knows, the next 10 years, right? Like, I don’t have any end in sight, let’s put it that way.” Brendan Gaughan was a driver for Beard Motorsports who had formed a technical alliance with Richard Childress Racing and ran primarily superspeedways. Across 67 Cup races in his career, Gaughan ran 22 of them on Talladega and Daytona.
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However, McLeod is also open to exploring other avenues, as running part-time gives him plenty of free time to pursue other interests as well. B.J. McLeod hasn’t ruled out the possibility of taking over a broadcasting role in the future, and shared his thoughts about it by saying, “I like a challenge and I would definitely enjoy doing that to some capacity, but I’ve never been approached for it and I don’t know if it’s in the future.” With his vast experience as a driver and owner at NASCAR’s highest level, his insights could be a valuable addition to any race coverage. Time will tell if we will see him as a race analyst in the future.