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

Does anyone know approximate amount of full time sprint car drivers salary paid by just team owner to be the driver? And how is it paid? Yearly salary? Percentage of winnings? Thanks

Somewhere around 50% of the purse used to be the number that was talked about. And I think some drivers were able to keep all their t shit sales revenue. 

Some casses ifrom what I unferstand it is 60% car owner  40% driver of  winnings and driver gets tshirt sales

Depends on the situation. I know some drivers that get a tiered pay, 30% for 11th or worse, 40% for 2nd-10th, and 50% to win, some are straight 40%, I have even heard of some that are salary paid, like $400/week and 20% of what the car makes. I believe most of the drivers that keep all the t shirt money as well, are required to pay for their own t shirts. Really all depends on the situation.

But even if they pay to drive or supply the sponsor they must still recieve some of the winnings. I understand every situatuon can be different but every one must take a portion for driving.

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

Not necessarily, I know drivers that didn't take any winnings at all from the car. Zomer being one of them. If a driver is doing it for a living, then yes, 99% of them take something from what the car brings in. It depends on what situation you are looking at.

Family owned cars are a different deal. In many cases the son driving for his father doesn’t take any winnings, it all goes to the car. This is how Marks started out, he’s said a few times they couldnt have afforded to race as much as they did in PA if they had to pay a driver. 

after listening to Open Red pocast I get the impression you have to bring money to drive the Indy Race Parts cars. Bernie said Lasoski was suppose to be in one of them for the nationals but backed out at the last minute. Why would he back out unless he had to pay and or sponser money never came thru?

That's one of the things that I think has soured the sprint car talent pool to a degree. Having the money to buy a ride today does not insure the best drivers are getting the cars. It doesn't take much for a lot of drivers to be fast, and win from up front in today's car. All the cars are fast.....but that doesn't mean equal. They do become more equal with the talent that is behind the wheel, and the talent behind the wrenches. Those two things have never changed. Having the extra money that a driver brings to the team only means that the team gets to play at a higher level. It doesn't guarantee winning. That's one of the reasons the great drivers from the past can race at the ages they currently are. A large number of the young guys bring more money than talent to the track. Just because we get hyped up about the fresh talent popping up, that still doesn't guarantee it's all of the best talent that's out there. A drivers talent can emerge with experience. But I don't think it's a given that it will emerge because of a wallet. The Shark team has proven that. Without Bobby, would Logan and Jacob be where they are today? Niether would have ever been able to buy a WoO ride. And like many, I believe thay are starting to emerge as a couple of top guns. The money for some may eventually run out, the talent won't!

I know for a racer that does not do it for a living to get in someones car 60% owner and 40% to the driver is pretty common my question was aimed more toward woo and allstar teams where the racer does it for a living and has no ownership in the team like gravel, sweet, pittman, schatz, stewart, saldana,Shaffer, etc.......id have a hard time believing those guys get to take 40% of the winnings. Just wondered if anyone had any inside info to what somebody like any of these guy I mentioned gets paid I've always been curious.

To go a little further in the topic. I wonder what the crew members get for pay. Not just the crew 

chief. It can’t be much but they gotta eat.

Its pretty well known top drivers get 50% and the rest 40%. Not sure how tee shirt sales goes. Most drivers who work regular jobs probably driver for free because your still money ahead verus fielding your own team. Some may get there expenses paid.    

I did it for a few months, I got $575 a week, and got really lucky because I was employed under the team owners business away from racing, so I also had benefits. health insurance, 401k, taxes,  etc. That is a very rare thing in racing.

It depends on who you work for. I had a buddy that talked about going towork for Brady Bacon, he said it was $300/week cash, but your living expenses were paid. Probably an apartment at the shop or something. 

I would guess that most guys our there (aside from the KKR or TSR crew guys) and in the neighborhood of 300-500 a week cash value, give or take a bit. Crew chiefs I have heard are at the $1000+/week mark, however, I have never actually been told that by a crew shief, just what goes through the grape vine, you know how that goes.

40% is common and tee shirt sales really help.The guys that really want to race and also have a job are more likely to do it for the fun as if they had to do it themselves the costs are too high and if you arent in the top five or have good sponsers it costs at least $1000 a night with no breakage to keep a fresh motor and good tires. The days of bring your helmet bag are rare.A local team said they made a million racing and spent 2.

You're never going to get a "right" answer on this because literally every situation is different. Some drivers have contracts some drivers get handed 100 dollar bills .  Same with crew chiefs.

A good friend of mine worked for KR a few years ago as a crew chief. It was like a regular job with a salary and health insurance. He was married with two kids. He is also a crew chief on an All Star car and makes $52,000 a year with insurance. Can also work for owner’s business during down time.

From all I’ve heard about this topic, I think this is the truest answer. I’ve heard anything from 40-60% of winnings for top teams but never anything confirmed.

Good question, but too many variables to answer the question accurately. If you're wanting to know if a driver makes 30, 40, 50, 60, or $70,000 a year or more than you'll just have to ask one personally. And with t-shirt sales being primarily a cash business-good luck knowing the truth! Only a driver and his accountant know the truth! (or what is actually reported to the IRS)

I know Schatz is the exception and not the rule but even if Tony didn’t pay him a dime to race the 15 he’d be fine cause he makes a lot of money in the shirt trailer. What that amount is I have no idea but I’d be willing to bet he makes a lot more money selling souvenirs then what he receives from Tony. 

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No doubt he makes a sizable amount of money from souvenirs and I'd hate to guess how much, but I think the car pays him considerably more. If BillV99's standings calculations are close.....the car did $613,050 in purses in 2017.......at 50% that puts Donny's take at around $300,000. They are at $436,800 roughly at this point for 2018 so that's another $218,000. I doubt the souvenirs are very close to those totals.