DIRTRACKR Daily Podcast - Episode Transcript
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Just how secure are dirt racers in their deals with teams? | Daily 10-2-2023
Coming up, do dirt racers have actual contracts with the teams they drive for? We'll dive in, plus get you ready for Super Dirt Week which is going on up at Oswego Speedway in New York. Let's go!
It's Monday, October 2nd, I'm Justin Fiedler. This is DIRTRACKR Daily.
Back over the weekend I had a comment from someone wanting to know more information about driver contracts in dirt racing. They wanted me to either point them towards a resource for that, or make a show about it. I don't know of anywhere online that has information regarding driver contracts, so I figured I'd just put together an episode with some information. Obviously when we talk about driver contracts, we are referring to hired and pay drivers in the sport, and not those who are hobby racers, or own their own equipment. Even at the highest levels, you'll still find guys like Brent Marks, or Bobby Pierce or others who drive for self or family owned teams. I have no idea how guys like Marks or Pierce pay themselves, but I'm sure it's some portion of winnings after expenses are cleared. For the drivers though that show up with a helmet bag and seat ready to race, things are not quite as formal as you might expect. And not nearly as formal as other high levels of motorsports, including things like NASCAR or IndyCar. I shot messages yesterday to several drivers, a team owner, and some other industry friends to find out about how prevalent contracts are and what they would look like. Having spent so much of my own career on the NASCAR side, even pit crew members like I was had contracts with teams. Multi-year deals, options, non-compete clauses, buyouts, all of those things were included in contracts I myself signed. I even know of a few instances of pit crew members being traded between teams. But having something on paper in dirt racing is much less common. Three different drivers or ex drivers told me they'd never had an actual, on paper contract in their careers. Deals were always verbal or handshake situations. And that appears to be the norm, even with some of the bigger teams. I've been told that one very high profile dirt late model driver did not have a contract during a several year run with a big time operation he raced for. An original conversation was had, and that was it. It certainly makes you understand why some of these teams go through drivers like water. Owners can make changes based on the way the wind blows, and it's easy with very few hoops to jump through. An actual contract isn't necessarily a guarantee of anything, I've certainly had a few that weren't worth the paper they were written on. But most of these dirt racers have very little protections in these deals. Contracts do exist though for some teams, and I've heard at some of the high level sprint car teams, even some of the crew members have signed agreements. If you're a team with a big time crew chief, you'd want some way to keep them around, plus some protections for the future and their knowledge of setups and notebooks. I think whether that team has big time corporate sponsors or not probably also plays a role in how the team is managed. That sort of trickles down through an organization and creates more formality. As for what drivers are being paid through these deals, a percentage of winnings is the most common. Usually 40-50%. A really top guy might be able to negotiate a base, plus a percentage, but that piece of the winnings is really the key. It's why for some, things like merch sales can be a big deal. If you can move enough volume, it can keep the cash coming in even if you get into a slump behind the wheel. But when we talk about total winnings for these drivers, or you scroll through sprintcarratings.com, you can get an idea of what those drivers are actually taking home. If you want to know where the top dirt late model guys stand so far this year, go back and check out my Friday bonus episode where we talked dirt late model earnings for 2023. The big thing to take away from this though, is that the vast majority of hired dirt racers do not have actual paper for their arrangements. It's a conversation and a handshake, and that's it. If there are other questions you have about things like this, let me know via email or the comments, and I'll try and get them answered.
Over the weekend I sent a new edition of The Slider, which is the email newsletter I have. Recent Sliders have included pieces on the Xtreme Outlaw Midgets, scheduling dirt races in the spring, and a conversation with Sprint Car Hub's Toby Bellbowen about being a dirt racing content creator. If you'd like to subscribe to The Slider head over to dirtrackr.com/theslider and just pop in your email address. It's free, and if you decide you don't like it, you can unsubscribe at any time. That page at dirtrackr.com also includes links to all past Slider issues as well, so you can peruse those. We are up to 16 total issues at the moment. If you want to contribute to a future edition, let me know. I'm also looking for more writers and creators, and I pay for anything that gets used. You can drop me a DM or email for details.
Up in New York today, Super Dirt Week at Oswego officially opens up. Campers started moving in yesterday, and today is tech inspection all day, plus the charity golf tournament. We won't see cars actually on track though until Wednesday. As of right now, they are somewhere around 300 total cars entered, across the big blocks, 358s, sportsman, and pro stocks. The nearly 80 car list for the big blocks is absolutely stacked, and includes all the heavy hitters, plus Tim McCreadie is back to race in the event again for the first time since 2018. He'll drive both a big block and a 358 this week. Among the pro stock entries, you will again find World Racing Group CEO Brian Carter. He's made scattered pro stock starts in recent years, including at Super Dirt Week and the World Short Track Championship at Charlotte. Current Super DIRTcar Series points leader Matt Sheppard is the defending Super Dirt Week champion, and before that Mat Williamson had won two straight. Stewart Friesen hasn't bagged the 200 since 2016, but he's coming off the big Fonda 200 win just a few weeks ago with the Short Track Super Series. That was a $53,000 score, and this run of high paying big block shows continues the next week after Oswego, with the $50 grand to win Speed Showcase at Port Royal as well. Hopefully Friesen isn't suffering any ill effects from his nasty crash at Talladega over the weekend. He climbed from his truck under his own power, but did take a trip to the local hospital to get checked out. He has since been released though. Friesen is already locked into the 200 on Saturday thanks to a recent SDS win at Albany Saratoga. Other guys with guaranteed starting spots include Matt Sheppard, Mat Williamson, Mike Mahaney, and Andy Bachetti. My guy Jamie Weaknecht told me though, that even though Bachetti is locked in, he's not expected to race. And hasn't run Super Dirt Week since it left the Syracuse Mile. Jamie is a great source for northeast modified info, and you can follow him on Twitter @ClubWago. Super Dirt Week and it's satellite events will be live on DIRTVision all week if you want to tune in.
That's it for today's Daily. The streaming schedule is quiet with just the 24/7 channels rolling all day on DIRTVision and Flo. To see that daily streaming schedule, head over to dirtrackr.com/watchtonight.
Hope you guys have a great Monday out there, we'll see you back here tomorrow.