paying pit help...
 

What do people pay their help to wrench for them at the track per night...for someone who atleast has a general idea of sprint car racing? Thanks...

Re: paying pit help...
 

i paid their way in and feed them on way home also they ride with us

I have helped people in the past, and was happy to do it for just a pit pass and a thank you.

Re: paying pit help...
 

I have done it for over 30 years, many of the first years, I was happy with a pit pass and food.

Then a few years back, I started paying my own pit pass and bought my own food.

Now, I seem to be paying for the pit passes and providing the food!

I think a lot depends on the personal financial abilities of the individual crew member and what the financial budget is of the team owner that is trying to field the car. Your individual situations will vary greatly.

Thanks for the reply guys. I just started racing sprint cars last year and my dad comes saturdays from illinois to help and i def want him there to help because hes better help than i could ever pay for but i want to race fri and some sundays but its just not possible for him to do those days. Tryin to get an idea of what to offer someone if i do find someone to help.

Re: paying pit help...
 

Myself & another person pay our own way in, after that the driver & his wife take good care of us, we have a lot of fun:5:. We get all drinks we want in the cooler, a sub, cookies, chips, & we have fun:31:. He got a little snippy at 1st race this yr but we talked it out:20:. It's gotta be fun more cause no NAPCAR team gonna call Mon morning & ask us to crew for them:10:. He also buys us a ticket to the banquet & has a bottle of rum for drinks:32:.

Re: paying pit help...
 

When I crewed our driver payed our pit pass, and took care of food at the track.

Re: paying pit help...
 

Last year when I was helping my buddy with his mini sprint, I payed my own way in, and my own food. I even drove myself to the track. I just did it for the enjoyment of working on the car, and being at the race track.

Re: paying pit help...
 

I got paid with Memories that will last a lifetime and a meal after the races. Paid my own Pit Pass most times. Never had a problem I was going either working for, or watchin anyway.

I think it all depends on the level you are racing at. Your local Saturday night racing I feel a pit pass and some food is sufficient because the guys working on the car are going to have fun also, and most probably don't want paid. Not saying a little bonus at some point wouldn't make their day, but most of them you could just pay their way and they would be grateful.

Now if you are talking about running USAC or another top division, although some will still be alright with just pit pass and food, it may require some compensation. Racing at that level requires a lot more time and work at the track. The amount of work you expect from your guys kind of depends on if you should pay them extra or not.

Find someone local that you can bring to the shop to learn the car and then they would be more than tickled just to go to the track with you. Good way to get a teenage kid involved in racing.

Re: paying pit help...
 

Or a kid even younger. My grandson gets paid anything from a cap, a t-shirt, or in the case of Bill Babcock, a baloney sandwich with a ride in the golf cart.

Re: paying pit help...
 

In many ways these guys are the unsung hero's of our sport!!!! This is where the real depth of how great the racing community is comes into play......the amount of time and work people put in just to be a part of the team is a great and often overlooked aspect. without people like this you would see a lot less cars on the weekends. so to all that have helped, stayed up all night, busted knuckles, sweated gallons, or just hang out crack jokes and scrape mud week in and week out, i say thank you!!!! :6::6::8:

Well if anyone has anybody in mind shoot me a pm. Dont know many people around indy

Some of the best times I have had was when I was 15, and 16 wrenching on the goodnight 39 for nothing but a pit pass and memories I'll hold forever. Matt helped me on a personal level more then he knows. More then I knew at the time.. I learned more about race cars helping Matt for a couple summer's then one can imagine, and for that I thank you!

Re: paying pit help...
 

If I ever have any help, they ride with me and I pay their way. However, it's pretty rare that I have any help. There are very few people around, and it's a long ways to find another car from my neighborhood. People ask me if my car is some kind of go kart around my area. There's no one. Literally. So I fly solo most of the time. It absolutely sucks trying to do everything yourself every night and relying on others to push you up, but it sure beats not going racing at all.

If you are looking for trusty, experienced help that will be an asset to your team $100 a night, pit pass and any travel expenses they may incur. That is a good starting point. If you run really well buy them some drinks (beer lol) and some food in their stomach. Most will work their asses off for that!

Bob

Re: paying pit help...
 

Boy, this sounds all too familiar, my bride of 54 yrs has been almost all of my help over the years, I have had, to the best of my memory, one guy that I considered an asset as far as help, and he didn't know that much about it, other than he was appreciated, and everyone liked him, he got what ever he needed, pit pass, fed, a ride to and from the tracks we went to. I had many others, one brought a lunch pail, set out the chairs for other people to BS with him, but not much help to me, and he had been on an Indy car team, a sprint car team, went all over the world with them, Australia, why, I have no clue! Another one only made it one night, another "experienced" racer, his experience amounted to getting a free ride to and from, pit pass, fed, for one night, the capper was after I had everything done, car ready to hot lap, he says, looks like your ready, I'm going to slip over to the stands, and get me a seat, before it gets too crowded, you don't need anything else do you? After doing that for 60 plus yrs, I've given up, had it been me, I would have jumped at the chance to help someone, and did on lots of occasions, I can't understand why anyone who enjoys racing wouldn't be ready and willing to just go and help, if they want to go, and be part of it, what better way than help someone who needs help, learn something, and for the most part, all your out is what you eat, and a pit pass, no cost to get there, sleep all the way home, be ready to go again the next time! Beats me! Bob

Still looking..

Re: paying pit help...
 

The title of this post should be "How to get good pit help". You got to get them before you pay them. I have tried many ways to get good pit help. I have paid up to $500.00 a night. Giving the entire wining for the night to them, to even offering my hired help at the shop overtime pay plus expenses to help at the races.

The best help that I ever had on a race car was to offer a guy a ride in the back up car. For this I got help in the evenings keeping the race cars up, help at the track on the main car and help keeping his car running also. One kid in particular was super energetic and added greatly to the program. We did this set up for several years and it worked out great for all of us.

Racing is a particularly strange game. If you have it in your blood you will do it for nothing. If it is not in your blood no amount of money will bring you on board. Life now days demand much more from people than it did in the past, also there are so many other ways to spend your leisure time. Help will always be a problem. The guy that shows up with 4 or 5 helpers always amazes me, I think to myself that guy has some super personality or pocketbook or both to be blessed with such help.

Honest Dad himself:6::6:

Re: paying pit help...
 

DAD, you know how it pains me to agree with you, but in this case I'm forced to, I'm like you, real short of help, and unable anymore to do it all myself, best I can hope for is a driver, who will help as well as drive, then we decide who gets what, I wish things were different, but they aren't, in my youth, I would have stood in line, like I did in the Military, for a chance to help someone, and did on a lot of occasions, that's when my wife, and a lot of others, were "volunteering" to score, sell pit passes, whatever just so we could race, not many got paid, kinda like racing go-karts for a living? I got an attic full of trophies, and have found no way to cook them, so they can be eaten. I fail to understand where/how some of these guys get all the help, I've been lucky at times, for a couple of years, I had an all girl pit crew, they were friends of one of my drivers, and came along, just to meet other drivers, both were good help, and paid their own way too! Bob

[QUOTE=goodnight39;430717]In many ways these guys are the unsung hero's of our sport!!!! This is where the real depth of how great the racing community is comes into play......the amount of time and work people put in just to be a part of the team is a great and often overlooked aspect. without people like this you would see a lot less cars on the weekends. so to all that have helped, stayed up all night, busted knuckles, sweated gallons, or just hang out crack jokes and scrape mud week in and week out, i say thank you!!!! :6::6::8:[/QUOTE
The above post from Matt speaks volumes.
IMO, racing has become much more of a business, instead of a passion.
As another poster mentioned, there are many more demands on our time and other resources.
When and if you find that individual who is involved in our beloved sport simply because they have a passion for it, you have hit the jackpot.
Sadly, there are fewer and fewer of those individuals in a position to do so; life is busy.
Please do not misunderstand me, I believe one should be compensated for their efforts in whatever fashion that is agreed upon.

Re: paying pit help...
 

i think that when someone helps you at the track, they are learning about the racing business and usually when you attend classes the student pays.the teacher doesn't pay the student.

Re: paying pit help...
 

Problem>>>>Racers needing help are not connection with people that want to help. The compensation argument is only secondary. In this age of computer technology maybe we need a clearing house for both wanting help and seeking work that would be safe for all concerned.

Every once in a while IOW gets a request from some kid wanting a ride, just maybe there might also be people wanting to help and learn and would like to have a chance to participate in the racing game.

We have another post on board right now fro Kansas>>>so we would need some sort of vetting for both parties, or maybe we could just depend on our instincts. Help wanted adds and positions wanted adds. Let the buyer beware. Reminds me about the time I hired this guy. When he interviewed he wore a baseball cap, I didn't think anything of it. I hired him and when he came into work he left the cap home and his hair was down to his>>>>>. Reminded me of the song "Imagine that me a working for you", he ended up being a pretty good worker.

Honest Dad himself:6::6:

I didn't know people got paid for helping, classic.

Re: paying pit help...
 

JD

I think people are equating the lack of available help with the amount of compensation offered for help.

Honest Dad himself:6::6:

Re: paying pit help...
 

https://www.indianaopenwheel.com/showthread.php?t=88462

The only reason that I'm not offering during the regular racing season is because I'll likely be committed to a role with the MMSA traveling series again same as last year(haven't spoken with Andy yet, but if he asks I'll do it). I'm trying to find someone in my general area to help during the off season. Dad, you know who I am, and you know I'm not an idiot when it comes to mechanics. So to all you nay sayers saying that those who volunteer their help are a dying breed, I'm right here trying to get people's attention. Now if anyone in my area wanted to trade me an opportunity like what Dad had suggested where he offered a guy a ride in his back up car in exchange for help, I'd possibly rethink my commitment with the MMSA. Because ultimately that's what I want to do is drive however with the way my life is right now I just haven't been able to save up enough money to buy a car and with starting college in January and still maintaining my regular job I wouldn't have the required time to devote to a car to keep it in excellent shape(because I absolutely refuse to show up to a track in something that I feel has been mechanically neglected).