Payouts and attitudes

[Edm]

Do we race because we love racing or do we race for payouts? Knowing the tracks are struggling I actually felt guilty accepting my payout last Sat night.

I am not rich and have struggled for every single part on my car but thats the price we pay to race. Why are so many complaining about payouts? Where else can you have this much fun and get paid for it? My take is that far too many are spending way too much for their cars putting themselves in a hole and expecting to get more from the tracks.

Why am I saying this? Sat night at Nss I actually saw a driver load up his car because someone was faster then him in practice and he "wasn't getting paid enough to race his car". Attitudes like this totally piss me off. Problem is that these kind of attitudes spread to others and it ends up hurting the racers and fans more than anybody. The track already have their pit entry.

I have been around racing long enough to know what it costs to race and maintain a car.

Moral of the story, Quit spending so much on your cars and thank the tracks for being there.

[ronabneysr]

good answere can you share more info

with us inquring minds want to know # 1 what kind of car or class was thst guy racing was he paying 8;50 gallon for fuel 500.00 for set of tires 30.00 to get in pits 50;00 entry fee for car 20.00 dollars to get the familly in stands 5.oo for hot dog 4,oo for coke was there a purse or was he racing for trophy if you don't mind tell us whole story some of these race cars they don't give away

and it ain't like in old days were you make all peices for car there ain't no more 200 .00 cars are they

[Boneman]

Although I don't personally know the driver who loaded up and didn't run, I have watched this guy race for a while. I suspect that the bad attitude reflects some degree of frustration and disapointment. When someone runs so bad, you would think he would welcome the chance to gain some more track time and experience. Ya gotta take your lumps and learn the sport before you can expect to run up front (unless you have a rich daddy, but that is another topic).

Edm has an excellent point: the negative attitudes can be infectious and spread. I know that fuel costs me $8.00 a gallon, and I know that the tires are $100+, and that money "invested" in a racecar is actually money that is spent with no chance of recovery. But I'll do it anyway, for free if I have to, because I love it. So to Ron Abney, it shouldn't matter how much the nightly expenses are, if you show up to race, then race without complaining. The problem here is this driver decided to make some excuses to misdirect attention, and then spread a little poisen around the pits. That does not help the situation.

[AJ14]

Theres no doubt that the payouts , especially at certain tracks , are ridiculous . But until track owners realise that payouts should be coming from sponsors and marketing , not from the front and back gates , i don't see the money getting very much bigger except for special shows . Nascar race payouts are printed a year in advance . They don't rely on selling one single ticket to make the advertised payout , the money is already there from selling sponsorships , ads , suites , etc . And as long as short track owners keep jacking up the fuel and tire suppliers for more and more money , ( along with the soft drink and beer suppliers ) the prices for those products will just keep climbing .
Edm and Boneman are correct , racers know the price of racing . Or they should . I know the costs are keeping some racers on the sidelines , but the ones who do race shouldn't pretend to be shocked by the amount of money they have to spend . And truthfully , if they don't have it they shouldn't be trying to spend it anyway .

[AJ14]

This also goes back to something thats been discussed here before . A normal night at a drag strip brings in three times the number of cars that a short track does . The majority of those cars are pretty expensive . Yet , with the round system they use , very few cars will be paid anything meaningfull , but they still race week after week . And they spend the same amount on tires , fuel , hamburgers , cokes , and even entry fees as stock car racers do . Their base payouts are directly related to how many cars show up , but a lot of the payout is also from contingency money .
The point is , the drag racers seem to be happy to race for the sake of racing , and even tough they break parts at an alarming rate , they fix em and go back the next week .

[carolwicks]

Finally!!!!

great posts! we do this because we WANT to! we do this because we love it!
i think it should be a cooperative effort between drivers, fans, and track owners to cut back during this recession and keep the sport alive.
i do think the drivers are getting the brunt of the burden. it isnt just the cost of racing but the cost of getting there and back and everything in between.
Gary Padula won $1200 for a 3rd. place finish. i know it cost him alot more than that to race! if he has sponsors they will absorb some of the cost but im willing to bet Gary put out $$$$$$$$$$$... BUT!!!!!! like he says... he does it because he loves it and its his way of enjoying weekends. so he doesnt complain.....
im just using gary as an example because i know how he feels and it is posted what 3rd. place won. ;-)
we dont have to quit. but we do have to change how we spend...we need to stop eating, turn off the lights, ride a bicycle, and get our kids clothes at Goodwill!!! but we CANNOT stop racing! roflllllll just kiddin guys...
glad to see positive and interesting posts!
i still say 4-5 hours of exciting entertainment on a weekend night is not a bad deal @ $15-$20 a night.. less is better but you get what you pay for. ;-) chills, thrills, and spills...
we are so spoiled and we have been doing this for so long we get "involved"... would love to see some new fans and drivers chatting on the message boards. if we treat them as a welcomed guest maybe it will happen!!! and if they make mistakes lets try to be tolerant and teach instead of insult! they cant possibly be as wise as we are!!!!! lol
OZZIE

[tccaz]

racing is a hobby

It is kind of like owning a boat, Anyone owning a boat who thinks he is going to make money or break even when he puts his boat in the water would be considere nuts. So why is it that when someone builds a race car they automatically think they should get a check or even make money. AJ14 makes a legit point when it comes to drag racing I did it for years and never won enough to pay for my weekend but I still went every weekend and I was happy just having the chance to race. So all of you DIVAS who think they should get more money keep feeling that way and sooner or later (AND I SUSPECT SOONER) you will have something to complain about I DON'T HAVE ANYWHERE TO RACE) then you better hope you can make that race car a boat.

[ronabneysr]

don't most of race tracks pay about same purse

but do all the race tracks charge same price for general admission and pits or are there some that charge 25 percent more courious minds want to know

[andre]

Also maybe, and just maybe, one day they will figure out the difference between racing in PROFESSIONAL LEAGUE and racing as a HOBBY.One is for a LIVING, the other is for FUN. Any extra money made on the second one is a bonus for the ''after the race free beer''.

Just look at weekly racing as creating an occasion to go meet with friends and have some fun. And if you are good at representation, you might even find some people (businesses..sponsors) to share the expenses.

As far as money invested, go with what you can, do not go to impress the galery and end up broke within week. THIS just creates negativity, bitching, and hard feelings.

Just my 2 cents.

[carolwicks]

they dont have to...

track owners can charge what they want. different areas have different economical opportunities and the populations will vary... if you live in area with a million people you will most likely have alot more customers than you would if you lived in a smaller community of 500 thousand... that is one factor.
walmart and sears have the same products as do target and kmart. go to all 3 and check out the prices. they will surely differ.
the track owners know what they need to stay in operation and also pay their personal bills.
i agree that anyone involved in racing need to make choices... can they afford it and what sacrifices are they willing to make to enjoy the sport. if its too much then maybe you need to take a breather until the economy picks up or just stop complaining. i cant afford to take a trip to europe but i can visit a friend in naples! im still happy. maybe instead of going racing every week just go every other week. drivers... try to race closer to home. at least while things are so bad. we HAVE to make sacrifices when we are in a recession. theres no other way... when something stops being fun then perhaps its time to quit. im still having fun!!! and so are you! ;-) but what price are you willing to pay? not what price do you think they should charge. that isnt your decision. dont you think they want to fill their stands and be successful?
heres another thought for drivers who are feeling the crunch... i mean the high dollar racers... if you have a late model car and have to haul long distances in a huge hauler but cant really afford it right now,... why not get a bomber or a sportsman and trailer it for awhile. you still get to have fun and not give up entirely. that also keeps the tracks operational and we should have some huge car counts too.... seems like alot of fun...until we can go from brrrrrrrrrrr back to VAROOOOOOOM... hey guys... just trying to help. i may just be one of those dumb women... but im not!

carol wicks aka oz

[georgep]

GREAT THREAD!!
I spoke to a drag racer with a rail at a static car show. They (dad) ran oval track for 15 years and went to drag racing. Reason, the car lasted longer, nobody ran into him, tires lasted longer and the motor only needed work ecery 150 runs. The ran an rail car on nitro. They run for trophies and like the fact that the rules make sense and anyone can win since you bracket race, they are a 6:41 car, and it is just fun.
The last race they has over 300 cars.

[BuickRacer]

The problem i have with payouts is they haven't changed much or any in 30 years. But ever thing else has gone up. I gave up running every week and just run some of the big enduros and can usually break even.

[AJ14]

I think the bracket racing model is going to be needed to save the stockcar racing in this state . Put ALL cars into one class called stock cars . From strictly stocks through Super Lates . Only one set of rules . All cars have the same safety rules , the same weight minimums , the same cubic inch maximums , the same body and year rules ( although i'd open things up a lot more for fan appeal like 1960 through the present bodies , station wagons included , make the body rules much closer to stock ) , one 4 barrel , gasoline , 10 inch wide tires .
Every car times in each night , split the field into 4 classes each night according to the qual. times . Those times are used to position cars in respective races . Fastest half of the field each night races against themselves , Slowest half against themselves . Lets call them A and B class . Class A trophy dash followed by Class B trophy dash . Slow A heat race followed by Slow B heat race . A losers race followed by B losers race . Intermission followed by B main , then the A main . Cars are timed randomly in every race by track officials , if you are clocked at a tenth or more under your qual . time , you are DQed and the time you were caught at is your new qual . time for the night . ALL RACES ARE TOTALLY INVERTED , AND ALL RE-STARTS ARE DOUBLE FILE .
A guy can start out with a strickly stock , get his feet wet and then add a cam or wider tires , or headers . Or he can staqy right where he is and continue to run his two barrel . He can learn the car , keep going faster , and not have to build a new car just to go faster . Thats the bracket race idea . You only race against guys who are going as fast as you are . One big class means good car count . That means better spectator turn out .

[BuickRacer]

AJ14 that's a good idea. The biggest problem with racing is there's more or less no tech thats why things have got out of order. People come on here all the time taking about put money up to tech some one will sorry it's not my job to spend more money. Tech should do there job.

[1wildfastgirl24]

The thing I dont get is this, racing is a hobby we do it for fun like boating,baseball,hunting & etc....so why in the hell is the IRS making these tracks 1099 the drivers or car owners of the earnings they receive?,When it's really not what you call earnings,that is BS