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

I don't get it. Surely you didn't expect to run 20 nights, anywhere, and make enough money to pay racing AND living expenses? How much would that take? 1 motor - $25k, 1 new car - $15k. Tires, fuel, broken and worn out parts, pit passes, etc, there's another $1k every night. If you won every week at Knoxville that's $60,000. You made maybe enough money to pay all the above. But did you blow up a motor? Did you crash and need another car? No one wins every night so there's no way you're going to make enough purse money to break even. That doesn't count supporting a family. Get real man. Knoxville pays better than any weekly track in the country. But they can only run so many times. Until there's another track or two in the area that pays decent money there's no chance of making a living racing racing around Knoxville. The ONLY way for it to happen is to have a VERY good sponsor. There doesn't seem to be many of those these days. I can guarantee you Brian didn't make enough money last year to pay every single dollar of his expenses plus live. He has good sponsors. Without then or a rich car owner, no one is going to make a living racing sprint cars 20 nights a year, anywhere. Its just a fact. No reason to bash Knoxville.

Hey Jerk,

So you are complaining that finishing mid pack at a weekly 410 track didn't make you or your team enough money to put food on the table or pay for a $25,000 motor? Now that comment right there just cracks me up. Since when does anybody in racing (in the past 15 or more years), other than in NASCAR, expect to run mid pack and break even let alone make any money? I mean, honestly, are you for real?

When was the last time ANY team paid all of its expenses out of the winnings and came out ahead for the year?

Has it ever happened?

Maybe Steve, Doug or Sammy back in the good old days but I doubt even Schatz would have come out ahead over the last 4 seasons.

Sprint car racing is just plain expensive, if it wasn't I'd be racing instead of sitting in the stands.

Check that, RACING is expensive it doesn't matter what the class is.

No matter what the purse is somebody will always spend more money than the purse justifies.

Car count is over rated. If you give me the top 10 WoO point drivers and that's all, I would still pay to see them race... in go karts. It's the drivers we pay to watch, not the car they are in or how many competitors they are going up against.

I am of the belief that the 410 sprint car will eventually price themselves out of a class at Knoxville and across 90% the country. It's a matter of time, and the man sitting there waiting to take control of sprint car racing will be Emmett Hahn. 360's are growing and growing...

When Cappy decides it's time to hang it up, here is my short list of candidates to become the new promotor...... John McCoy (Fairboard promotes within most likely), Toby Kruse (my pick given the choice), Bob Baker, Steve Beitler, Tommy Estes Jr.

Eric Arnold
Social Media Manager & Track Historian
Knoxville Raceway