Steven Patrick: On Monday, the top nine teams in NASCAR announced that they are making an alliance that will help build NASCAR as a whole. The teams involved are Hendrick Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing, Team Penske, Richard Childress Racing, Stewart - Haas Automotive, Chip Ganassi Racing, Michael Waltrip Racing, Richard Petty Motorsports, and Roush Fenway Racing.

This pack of teams do not describe themselves as a union, and they are just want to make more revenue to cover any expenses. You know what, that's a pretty legitimate reason. Who wouldn't want things to just come easier to them anyhow. And another purpose for this was apparently to level the playing field.

Lets put it down like this RTA, if this is about making races more competitive for the little guy, then why aren't the little guys in this formation.

These teams are building up money that they know they're going to get anyway. No one but the big teams are involved currently, and that may never change. There's a couple of mid pack teams in this alliance, Richard Petty Motorsports and Michael Waltrip Racing. But those are teams that can pull off good runs. Richard Petty Motorsports driver Aric Almirola just won the Coke Zero 400 to put that into perspective as well.

Why aren't the smaller teams such as Tommy Baldwin Racing, or Front Row Motorsports part of this alliance. They are the one's that NASCAR wants to see become more competitive after all, right?

Overall, with this new alliance, there is no way this sport gets closer, but becomes even more lopsided. The teams in the RTA will pull further away from the little guys, and the little guys are going to continue to battle for 25th place. No one in the RTA said they'd give to those little teams anyhow.

Mark Smith: For the most part, this will be a good change to the sport. In light of the recent overhauls to the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup which gives lower teams a chance to earn a place in the end of season battle - as was evident with Aric Almirola at Daytona last weekend - and this change could add to that level playing field in the sport as some teams such as Front Row Motorsports and others will be given backing and finances from the larger teams to better their cars.

But on the other hand because so many big teams are involved their will be disagreements without a doubt, mainly in terms of who has the final overall say to decisions. Some teams may also keep some ideas to themselves to better their own teams or use ideas that are brought up before they are delegated around the other teams involved and the lower teams in the sport.

In addition the teams involved in the RTA may decide to keep whatever changes they bring in to better their teams to themselves and not help the lower teams which could open the gap even more to the less financially funded teams. Overall, there is a possibility that it will work and make the playing field more level and not just let the lower teams have a chance at the restrictor plate races during the season, but only time will tell.