DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Roger Penske isn't showing any bitterness publicly over his driver Ryan Blaney not having a guaranteed spot in the Sprint Cup field in 2016.
There's a chance that Penske was just in a good mood Saturday as he enjoyed his 79th birthday -- he wants a celebration Sunday in Victory Lane instead of a cake -- but he also sees the value in the charter deal as a whole.
Penske got charters for his two teams but Blaney and crew chief Jeremy Bullins have been farmed out to the Wood Brothers Racing team, which didn't get a charter.
Rob Kauffman was actively selling his two charters from the now-defunct Michael Waltrip Racing, which he sold to Stewart-Haas Racing and Joe Gibbs Racing. The charters come with guaranteed starting spots and revenue streams.
"There really wasn't any opportunity because the two that were available went to other guys that ran the full season last year, which was SHR and Gibbs," Penske said. "So we weren't really in the discussion. That was done between Kauffman and the two [other] teams."
Penske says he hopes the charters "are worth a lot of money when I want to sell mine -- we've invested a lot." But Penske also might be looking for a charter to buy when he wants to bring Blaney in-house to Penske Racing.
"It's really up to the Wood Brothers long-term what they want to do [as far as getting a charter]," Penske said. "They're very comfortable running as an open [without a charter] car. I think we are supporting them with equipment and technology, and with that they seem to be competitive and Blaney certainly will have a great career.
"Ultimately we'd like to go to three cars at some point [at Penske], [but] that's certainly in the distant future."
Penske has long-term agreements with Blaney as well as with the Wood Brothers.
"We're very involved in everything that they're doing over there [at Wood Brothers]," Penske said. "We can compare some of the things that we're learning and vice versa. It gives us a chance to build Ryan as a world-class driver without the pressure of maybe sitting under our banner.
"The Wood guys are so committed personally as a family, it's great to be part of that with them."
As far as the charters, Penske says it truly will create a more collaborative effort between owners and NASCAR. The owners will have a competition council, a technological council and a marketing council. Decisions that have impact on team finances will be discussed.
"If we're going to have rule changes, there's definite time frames for NASCAR to bring it up to the teams," Penske said. "The teams can talk about it. ... [The councils] will go through those rule changes and make a decision -- how does it impact the sport, how does it impact safety and furthermore then, what's the cost?
"That is a discussion where we can sit at the table. At least now, we're going to own the baby if we have something we don't like."