Forum: HoseHeads Sprint Car General Forum (go)
Moderators: dirtonly  /  dmantx  /  hosehead

The going rate has always been 40-50% but since there are far more drivers than there are teams nowadays I’m sure guys are willing to run for less. I’m sure it also depends on what the driver brings in terms of sponsorship. I would think that the bigger teams would give their drivers a base salary and then a (lower) percentage of the purse like 25-30% plus maybe even life/health insurance etc but I’m just guessing.

The thing I’m not sure about is how the tshirt sales work. The drivers are independent contractors so theyre responsible for getting to the races in their own buses, paying for the upkeep, diesel fuel, paying for their own life insurance and health insurance for their families, etc so even after getting 40-50% of the purse most of those guys aren’t making a ton of money. Alot of the drivers tow their tshirt trailers behind their motorhomes and have their wives doing the sales so I’m assuming that the drivers get most of if not all of the money from their tshirt sales. I bet that tshirt sales are the difference between making an ok living and making really good money.

I'm with Ryan here as I know it's always been in the 40-50% realm.  There are SO many factors to figure out as well.  Some drivers have sponsors so the ? is does the sponsorhsip $ go to the driver, team, etc. and what % to each if any.  Lots of factors and moving parts, but generally speaking 40-50% was the normal set up. 

Where can I find the interview?  I like to listen to racing stuff.

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I'm sure there are a ton a different ways teams and drivers use to compensate each other. Whether its a driver having a sponsor with them so they take less of a % of the winnings, possibly a driver paying an owner per race and taking all the winnings, or possibly cutting a big check at the beginning of the year for all the winnings. Whether this comes out of the racers pocket or most likely a sponsor's pocket changes the time. I have heard of both situations happening as well as a higher % due to brining equipment such as engines to the table.

It will probably take about another month before teams/drivers can get a budget. Right now is the time when people interested in sponsoring drivers/teams will be getting with their CPA's to see how much more money they need to spend in order to avoid not getting taxed without anything to show for it. At this point, they will be told you can either spend/invest $XXXX into your company whether it is in materials, infastructure, labor, or advertising. If they are sprint car fans they may just hand a team or driver a check before 12/31/2018 for them to use for advertising the next year.

I was once told that normal was 40% with some owners paying 50% if they won the feature.  Also heard  of one team that paid 33 1/3 %.  He said would you rather make 33% of purse that car can win every night or 40% of a car that can make $300 to $600 a night.  I also  heard Bobby Allen say 15% and rest goes to keeping team going.  We also have to remember that sponsorship is in shorter supply now than it used to be  and maybe teams have to cut back on driver percent.  I think we would also be shocked on how little the non big name NASCAR drivers are paid.

This is not the drivers salary, it’s the budget to run the team for a full season according to interview  that was live on fb

John Clark shared on FB along with Bobbi Johnson 

Today, some guys get a base salary and a % if they are top ten and it goes up for xtop 5.TSR racing. Donny Shatz and Ricky Warner , reportedly get a salary and a bonus at the end of the year. Remember some drivers are bringing sponsors to the seat, and in doing so there % is not the same. 

So when a fresh young gun brings a bunch of his family fortune to the ride, or personal sponsrships, how does he get paid? Seems to me he's paying himself and betting on the future and hoping another youngster with more family fortune doesn't come along.

It really depends on the situation, and is a case by case basis. Most all drivers take a percentage of winnings to an extent. Some drivers that bring sponsor ship will say hey, I have $500k available in sponsorship dollars, Ill give this team $300K and take 25% of what the car makes, some guys dont have that luxury, and it takes every dime they get in sponsorship to keep them in a car, so they may get more of a percentage, say 40%. It is unusual to see a driver take home more than 40% unless they win. Some rides require nothing to be brought to the table to drive it, I know because I worked for one like that.

Bottom line, some require the driver to bring funding, some don't. Some sponsors "Exclusively" sponsor the driver, some sponsor the driver and fund the car, but 99% of the time most professional traveling drivers will take some sort of compensation from the team, whether that be percentage of the winnings, or a salary, or what have you, even if they pay to be in the car. 

The reality is that there are very few paid rides left. WoO is the premier sprint car series in the world and this season you had 6 real paid rides (2xKKR,TSR,KLR,CJB,and the Stenhouse car) and 5 of them are teams owned by cup guys who can leverage their names to get funding for their sprint cars (and even KKR struggled with 1). Without them you had 1 standalone team and that’s the 5 car. The rest were family owned with family drivers. To me that’s not a good sign because it shows that it’s absolutely impossible to field a team without spending a fortune of your own money every year. The purses really have to get better and the WoO needs to figure out how to help these teams get better sponsorship.

Always heard that the standard was 30% (40% for a win) for hired guns but I'm sure teams would pay more for a top tier driver but OTOH, with way less full time rides available it may mean lower % for all but the top rides. CJB is the team that spent a lot of money($80,000 is the number I heard if memory serves) for a motor with a machined engine block (instead of cast) over a decade ago when Rahmer was in the car. The motor worked! I was at the Grove the night he ran it and he was able to blow by good cars down the long straights like they were sitting still. Motor was banned a week later. Safe to say this team will spare no expense. 

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I am sure no driver brings in $500 K sponsorship money and keeps 200K for him self.  I do not think there is that much sponsorship money around for a sprint car.

I think the one you're thinking of was when he drove for Joe Harz (2004 I think). It was very controversial to say the least. As you said, it didn't take long at all before it was banned but he was unbeatable for the short time he had it.

I was thinking it was CJB but it may have been Harz, my memory isn't the sharpest these days. 

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What does CJB stand for? Is this a family that owns the team?

Even though I may not know you, I 
care what most of you think!

Yeah. First initials of the family that owns the team. Chad, Jenn, and... ? Either way, you get the idea.

The $500k number is just a number, whether that number be $100k, $200k etc is irrelavent. I know there are people that do that, a lot of the drivers that do have the mindset of, "well, I need to protect myself and my family if we have a bad year or I get let go."

What I should have said, is also that a lot of sponsorships might not be on a year to year basis, a lot of big time sponsorships are on a contract over a period of time, just as Greg Wilson stating at the banquet that Hurcules Tires just signed for a 3 year deal. I am sure a 3 year deal for a team on tour is in the range of $500k. (I know, before we get crucified here I know that he is no longer full time, but I think he will still run 60-75% of the amount of races that the outlaws run a year, whether they all be with the outlaws or a true outlaw schedule.) Hell if a guy is sponsoring a WoO team 2 motors for 1 year, According to Kelly with Wesmar's numbers, 2 WoO motors would be $150k at $75K each, then gotta plan on a $15k freshen on each at some point through the year. that puts you in the $180K range just for two motors for one year. 

Just to clarify, I am not saying you are wrong, just trying to shed a different perspective. No, there is likely not a sponsor that puts out $500K per year besides the owners themselves. But there likely are $500K sponsorship contracts in sprint car racing, and if a drive IS taking some of the sponsorship money to protect himself, they are likely taking a decent chunk. Not saying half, but probably 20%.

The rality of all this is though, that now days nobody knows what the real story is behind a sponsorship. Now days, with WoO being so (Nascar Owned) I will call it, its not like a lot of those drivers are out getting their own sponsors anymore. Shane likely didnt get Chevy Accessories on board with KLR, and Daryn likely didn't get Ionomy and Off Road Heat on board himself. I say likely, because anything is possible. My thoughts and what I have seen with my friends that are drivers, were guys that hit it hard and hustled their own sponsors, to bring monry to the team. That may be where the difference lies today.

Either way, it is an interesting concept to have a conversation about. See, not everyone in this board is an asshole! 

Not 100% sure but I'm thinking it's for Barry.  Barry Jackson is the crew chief and pretty much runs the show from what I understand. 

Pretty sure that CJB stands for the first names of the kids, not Chad & Jen. I forget their names.