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

Does anyone know of a site that reveals the Top 5 budgets amongst 410 Winged Sprint teams? Probably not. With this in mind who would you assume to be in the Top 5. I'll start by guessing;

1. Tony Stewart Racing

2. Larson Marks Racing

3. Kasey Kahne Racing

Then? Todd Quering Motorsports? Keneric Racing? Jason Johnson?

Your Thoughts?

I would throw Mike Heffner in the mix.  Not up to nascar driver own teams, but he's up there 

I would agree with whats been said here by previous people , it's not balanced any more , same cars but higher budgets . Years  gone by it was not the same, sure money was spent but not this way , but we do see some good racing , I guess thats all that matters .

Does KKR and TSR really have better equipment? I agree they may have more equipment, but to say it's better than the other teams cars is a little misleading. If they are all "cookie cutter cars" how can they have better cars?

Crew cheif, driver, and budget are all equally important.At this point the best drivers are also in the best budgeted cars.I doubt if even the top team owners even come close to breaking even.Drivers do well and deserve it but T shirts sales are big also.The TSR and KKR and Larson/Marks are able to use the Nascar position to fund their teams.The saying how to make a million dollars racing is to start with two is out dated.

You may have answered your own questions when you stated that they may have more equipment........as a season goes on, some teams are forced to refurbish and recycle used parts and components because thay can't just write a check and replace them......they probably have more races on their frames.....spend less on engine rebuilds and may not have the highest dollar equipment to begin with. Having new and fresh equipment throughout the entire season has always given the highest dollar teams an advantage. They are the top teams for a reason. But, do they get stronger as a season progresses, or do other teams begin to feel the effects of wear and tear? 

Its easy to assume that the NASCAR boys have the most budget, and I have absolutely no idea how much Keneric "invest" in the racing team, but after a little research on who the Keneric Group is, looks to me like the $$$ would go much farther than Tony, Kasey, and Kyle combined.  Again, they may not be throwing as much at it but they sure could.  I doubt that team has anything that is not top notch.

Wouldn't  kasey be number 2 considering he has a two car team compared to Larson and marks who only has one car. And I thought it was kasey Kane with Mike Curb.

I would think there are 7 or 8 teams that have the necessary budgets to maintain the fresh parts and equipment necessary to run an entire WoO season.  Those teams don't want for anything, I'm sure. All of those teams have been fast and a threat to win right out of the box. Most have been together only a short time when compared to what Schatz has had around him for a good many years. Before TSR, Schatz had the kind of equipment needed and he has stuck with it. A long with money, longgevity becomes a huge factor, and a level of communication between driver and crew chief/team. That being said, those top teams and the current WoO rules book is holding the rest of the sprint car world "hostage".

I would venture to say, there are some teams that have unlimited budgets (that are no listed), meaning they can buy whatever they want

I would think the biggest advanatage a Nascar affiliated team has, is techology that is available to them, that isn't available to other teams.  Someone like Tony Stewart, Kasey and Kyle have access to some very smart people (engineers and old school guys).

I would think even some local teams have huge budgets too, Roth Motorsports sometimes has local cars in CA while at the same time have a WOO traveling team.  I bet there are some high $ teams in PA.  U may ask, why don't they run the WOO circuit, well maybe the team owner want to watch his car race weekly plus have more control over the team if it is local, ie going to the shop everyday.

Shortie; Your top 3 are the reason why WOO is in trouble in 2016 and this is just the start.

The funny part of this debate to me is the drivers that have driven for KKR and TSR in the past have indicated that the budgets are much tighter at those operations than at other teams.  (ie:  no budget for testing, track rentals, etc.).

I would imagine the budgets are tightest. I'm betting that the owners are held accountable for the funds given to them by the biggest sponsors. Nobody wants to be ripped off. And who would want to lose a huge national sponsor in that way? It did happen in NASCAR to a team that way once . With todays rules package I don't see the benefit of testing and track rental like it was years ago when there were a multitude of tire componds, and further back when more than one tire brand could be used on tour. Plus, there were many more adjustments that could be made to the car. The way tracks change from one to the next and conditions from one night to the next and limited set up options, what do you test?

doin't disagree that they are probably held more accountable.  But, they could put that as a line-item on their budget pretty easily and sponsors wouldn't bat an eye IMO.  Tell me you are going to spend $1000 to rent a track and test for 3 hours so you can be as competitive as possible at the highest profile event that pays the most purse $$, and has the most media exposure for my company and I don't think any of them would say "no, that doesn't seem like a good investment of my sponsorship dollars".

Like I stated, DRIVERS are the ones that stated that they didn't have the budget to go testing (that means, that $1000 to rent a track didn't exist or they used it elsewhere (more equipment maybe, maybe paid their help better than other teams, who knows, but the $$ to rent a track to test was non-existent).

But at the same time, if testing wasn't beneficial, why would anyone be doing it?

It obviously has some benefit as even LMR rented Knoxville last season to test prior to the Nationals.  Track conditions, temperature, humidity, etc. weren't even close to what they would be for Nationals, so why test?  Obviously, there is something that they can get info on or they wouldn't do it.

I guess the first thing that comes to my mind is how they will say that each chassis will react differently (some cars are just great, then they change to another chassis with the same set-up and they run like dogmeat).  Testing allows them to make changes and see if it actually goes the direction they intended.

No testing means you test at the race, which isn't ideal for any raceteam in any circumstance.  In NASCAR, they get 3-4 HOURS of practice time every event.   Sprint cars get 5 laps.  Renting a track and doing some testing is probably more important in sprint car racing than it is in NASCAR IMO.

If there was a huge benefit to renting a track and testing the high profile teams would be doing it. As for a series renting a track for testing that a series is going to vist, that makes sense regardless that the conditions may be different at race time. The basics of the track....bank, size...those things won't change. Teams are prepared to adjust to enviromental changes and track conditions. Using NASCAR as a profile to compare with sprint car teams makes no sense. NASCAR puts restrictions on testing because of the advantages the big budget teams would have. More important than testing is the capability to always have the freshest and newet parts, frames, engines etc.......in the trailor, at the shop or a phone call away from a manufacturer. That's the $$$$ advantage.

Race engines don't get better with age,they are the best right out of the box,I believe that is the major difference between a big budget team and the lesser budget teams,the big budget teams can afford to run fresher engines.As the season goes on it becomes more and more of a factor.

This whole thread is a stupid topic. Who gives a crap.

If you want to talk about something how about which driver / team wastes the least.

ANSWER Schatz. He never freakin crashes. Spends more time working on his car than fixing it.