Originally Posted by TQ97:
I suppose one could say that. One could also say that the cost and equipment to be competitive with USAC are far greater than when Levi started out. The USAC regulars have 2-4 $30k car; 3-5 $50k+ engines in rotation being freshened after 10 nights and 2 new $350 tires on every night. I have over $100k wrapped up in our small local team between a complete car, spare roller, add’l parts and trailer and trying to make a $35k engine last all year before a $15k refresh. It costs me no less than $1k each night to unload the car for a local race. A USAC top guy told me last week he can’t race for under $5k to win because they’d be guaranteed to lose money. If you’d like to write me a $50k check for a 2nd engine and another $50k check for tires and travel cost I’ll be glad to commit to the USAC races within 300 miles of Indy. Also, I’ll need another $50-75k to hire someone to work on the car during the week as I work 50+ hours a week to cover my expense and to set it up at the track because I suck at setup decisions - ask my driver if you doubt me. We don’t go to USAC races not because we aren’t tying to get better, we don’t go because it’s a waste of what resources we do have.
