Rumors have it that Hendrick’s
new sponsor deal for Junior is in the thirty million dollar neighborhood. That’s the Boardwalk with Four Houses
of sponsor deals.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m
not knocking Junior or Hendricks for getting a great deal like that. If the sponsors are willing to sign up for it, more
power to them. No bucks… no Buck Rogers.
My concern is where does it
end?
NASCAR is all about numbers;
speed, RPMs, qualifying times, etc, etc. The number that startled me is winnings and how large that number has gotten. For
grins, I took a look at the last ten seasons through 28 races. I compared the winnings of the top twelve drivers in the
standings versus the rest of drivers in the standings list for that season (You may have noticed by now I am a data kinda
guy.)
So far this year, drivers have
won a total of just over $153 million, with the Nextel Chase drivers accounting for almost $56 million of that. In comparison
the Busch guys have won a measly $33 million and change. Almost half of that was won by Nextel Cup regulars. The truck
guys haven’t even brought home $10 million. The Craftsman tools and boxes sitting along pit row are probably worth
that.
Step back ten years into the
1997 season. Through 28 races, cup drivers won a total of $43 million with $19 million of that being paid to the top
twelve. Even then you saw that it paid to score top tens.
Roll back another ten seasons. In
1987, after race 28, drivers had won a little over $10.5 million. The top 12 were well paid, taking home almost 56% of
that. That year 118 drivers had at least one start and by race 28, the other 102 drivers had spread around $4.6 million
in winnings. Well over half of those guys took home less than $10,000.
The sport has come a long way
since the 1977 season where 120 drivers shared a little over $3.3 million. Cale Yarborough took home the most; a whopping
$364 thousand through 28 races. Paul Dean Holt started one race that year and took home the smallest piece of the pot,
$275.
What a difference 30 years
makes. If the growth rate keeps pace, ten years from now NASCAR Drivers will have a won a whopping $544 million so far. Who’s
going to feed the beast then?
