On the Loose Side
A NASCAR BLOG BY Kenny Bruce
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High racing costs may continue to soar
Aug
23
BRISTOL, Tenn. – Just wondering about the high cost of racing ...
How many ownership groups competing in NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series today have “partnered” with investors? How many other owners say they are considering a similar move? How many teams now sign multiple sponsors – with each putting up money for less than a full year – to contend for wins and, hopefully, championships?
Where does it all end? Or does it?
“Racing is definitely more expensive today than it’s ever been,” owner/driver Michael Waltrip said Friday. “I think a lot of people hoped when they brought in the new car it would help contain costs somewhat. That hasn’t happened. It actually went the other way.
“The cars are very, very fragile. You race it one week, and it doesn’t matter what you do to it, you about have to re-do the body on it before the next week to get it through the [inspection] templates because of the wear and tear of normal racing.”
Of course, the cars are just part of the equation. Payrolls have skyrocketed as well, with the top drivers commanding (demanding?) top dollar for their services. Crew chiefs earn more, engineers earn more. And on and on down the line. Money to meet all those “needs” has to come from somewhere.
Will it, though, reach a point where things such as investment partners and multiple sponsors are no longer enough to help keep the sport afloat?
It’s refreshing, but sad, when some folks in the garage tell you that teams could compete on much less. Refreshing because you hope that somehow, somewhere, a team will come along and prove that it’s not how much you have but what you do with it that matters.
And it’s sad because you realize that something like that probably won’t happen.
How many ownership groups competing in NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series today have “partnered” with investors? How many other owners say they are considering a similar move? How many teams now sign multiple sponsors – with each putting up money for less than a full year – to contend for wins and, hopefully, championships?
Where does it all end? Or does it?
“Racing is definitely more expensive today than it’s ever been,” owner/driver Michael Waltrip said Friday. “I think a lot of people hoped when they brought in the new car it would help contain costs somewhat. That hasn’t happened. It actually went the other way.
“The cars are very, very fragile. You race it one week, and it doesn’t matter what you do to it, you about have to re-do the body on it before the next week to get it through the [inspection] templates because of the wear and tear of normal racing.”
Of course, the cars are just part of the equation. Payrolls have skyrocketed as well, with the top drivers commanding (demanding?) top dollar for their services. Crew chiefs earn more, engineers earn more. And on and on down the line. Money to meet all those “needs” has to come from somewhere.
Will it, though, reach a point where things such as investment partners and multiple sponsors are no longer enough to help keep the sport afloat?
It’s refreshing, but sad, when some folks in the garage tell you that teams could compete on much less. Refreshing because you hope that somehow, somewhere, a team will come along and prove that it’s not how much you have but what you do with it that matters.
And it’s sad because you realize that something like that probably won’t happen.
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Comments
3 responses to "High racing costs may continue to soar"
del brown said:
Aug 23, 2008 at 12:46 PMEverything is likely to reach a plateau of sorts within the next couple of years. As a guess the top teams are probably spending around 30% of their budgets to get a 0.05% performance boost As inflation and competition drive costs higher the may be a retrenchment. Teams may elect - or be forced - to re-evaluate budget priorities. Multiple major sponsorships - determined on a race by race basis - well become more common as sponsors and advertisers expect a larger return on their investments. At least that's the way it seems to me.
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» Confirm Abuse ReportJohn Lockhart said:
Aug 24, 2008 at 11:30 AMWell if "someone" would'nt cause so many to wreck every weekend,teams would'nt have to rebuild them all the time and the cost may come down a bit.
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» Confirm Abuse ReportBill Rogers said:
Aug 26, 2008 at 8:28 AMI think NASCAR costs will continue to rise dramatically, especially if NASCAR continues to rise in popularity outside the U.S. Look at F-1, for example. Toyota is a top-8 team in F-1, where they spend hundreds of Million per year. How much do they spend on their NASCAR program? 20, 30, 50 Million? That's a drop in the bucket to those guys, and the other manufacturers/teams are going to have to cough up the dough if they want to compete against those guys. Been to the Toyota website lately? There's a nice front-page banner plugging the fact that they are dominating Truck, Nationwide and Cup Classes. I think big dollars are here to stay, and I tihnk we will see the number of competitive cars each week limited to those "super Teams" which have the money to pump into the latest technology and R&D. WE're seeing it now.
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