I’ve heard double his figures for the very top teams.
I’d say most would be shocked if they knew what even the local teams spend to race wing or non wing.
Originally Posted by flagboy55:
I saw that. It’s interesting. Dom includes a lot of expenses that a lot of us never consider. But hey, there’s more money in wings, right?
For Drivers that are any good yes. However you cut it. 40% of 10k is more than 40% of 5k
Outlaw/HL teams are $8-10K to drop the door on any given race night. The $6K he quotes is probably in line with a regional team. In 1986, it was $200 per day to run the Outlaws per an owner on that tour back then.
Scelzi makes a great point, on how the car needs to pay for some of the gap that the sponsors don't cover. This is where I see the divide between the wing and non wing teams. The wing teams race for bigger purses, which can cover those gaps. They have national branded sponsors as well, so their gaps are much smaller than most Some of the best wing teams will make money or breakeven regardless of the performance on the track.
I've heard some people say those wing guys are stupid and just waste their money to letter trailers and mules...etc.... Maybe its not and there is value in it? If there wasn't value they wouldn't do it, right? They seem to have it figured out. Get more Corporate money, race for more money...etc
I would assume the top tier non wing teams are $3-5K to drop the door on any given race night. Probably closer to $5k on the top 5 teams. This is why the purses in USAC have needed to increase from front to back to cover those gaps for these teams. By year end, some of these teams are on tired motors, running used tires.etc, trying to finish the year.
Non wing only has one national branded sponsor, NOS. So the gaps these teams have are much wider unless they cut down the outflow of expense, which means they are less competitive. If the owner is independently wealthy and wants to spend and needs a tax write off then they can hold status quo.
It comes in all shapes in sizes. It's truly the "circle of life" in the racing world.
To give you a little insight on a small budget Sprint Car team spends. Right now for us to drop the gate we are around $2000. That does not include any paid help but does include three pit passes. Does not include wear n tear on parts, no crashes. That is assuming 2 tires get used each night. That’s also coming home each night. Don’t forget with travel now you have hotels and team meals.
Correct me if Im wrong. But I feel a ton of the cost could be contained by limiting compression. I know it would put half these motors out that run today. But man could you extend motor life exponentially. What's the PSI these things hit per compression stroke today? Also think overhead cams getting rid of the rocker system would increase motor life as It seems there is a ton of Valve spring issues.
Now these things are running out of fuel at 25 laps winged on bigger tracks and lasting maybe ten to 15 races. Maybe 25 non wing
I was contacted by a non-wing team. Not a USAC regular or a team that runs a National schedule. This is the info they gave me:
These costs below assume no broken parts or pieces.
Description Price Sum
Total Generator Fuel Price $(10.00)
Total Truck Fuel Price $(47.99)
Total Tire Price $(680.00)
Total Pit Entry Price $(140.00)
Total Race Car Fuel $(70.00)
W Motor Cost Price per Race $(240.00)
Crew Food Price $(40.00)
Sum to Run one Race and hurt two rear tires $(1,327.99)
Sum to Run one Race and hurt one rear tire $(987.99)
Sum to Run one' Race with No Tire Wear $(647.99)
One thing that has always irritated me is when talking about this people only talk about the win money. I feel they reason we see a smaller field has much more to do with what 8 -20 pays than the win money.
I would love to hear from a full time USAC team and hear what their figures are.
