Originally Posted by staggerman:
If you think Marks and Macri’s budgets to compete are not par of that of a Woo team you are mistaken. Both have full time crew chiefs and crew members, same cost of engines, tires, etc as any Woo team when they put the trailer down to race. Marks made the bulk of his money winning big Woo races he traveled too and Macri won some big PA All Star and Woo shows to bump up his number.
Yes, is the cost of travel higher heading to California twice and everywhere else, yes. There is tow money to compensate towards that with Woo. Listen to Winged Nation’s interview with Brian Carter from WRG, I found it interesting
I don't think I'm mistaken. You made my whole point, and Brad Sweet illuminated it in his interview why people want High Limits races.
Those two teams barely left home and made $1M in total. Yes, Macri and Marks spend as much on their cars as the Outlaw guys, but where they don't spend there money is in travel. It probably takes $200K or more to go up and down the road and with rising costs of diesel, hotels and food.
I once had a driver who ran WoO and All Stars and other races throughout his career and said his bank account had more money in it when he ran the All Stars vs. the Outlaws cuz he didn't have to travel and could get home more often and didn't need a motorhome with the All Stars. This is the point I'm driving home. The gross numbers look great, but the net numbers aren't as robust.
I did listen to Brian Carter. His points were one sided, right? He wants to make sure that you're seeing it the way he wants you to see it. Are they making more than previously, yes They still only get $500 tow money per race. On a two day show they get one tow money fee and then they have to pay for the crew to stay at hotel and feed them for two nights, right? It takes anywhere between $1M-$1.2M to run the full deal at a competitive level, now some teams don't spend that and it shows, but the top teams do.
The math doesn't add up. The top teams use the sponsorships to cover their operational gaps financial.