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Dirt late model purses have exploded. Have the regional tours kept up?
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If you’ve kept up with dirt late model racing at all in recent years, you know that the subject of purse money has been a constant topic of conversation. More specifically, the amount of money that the sport’s top stars are competing for week in and week out has grown drastically, with no signs that things will slow down anytime soon.
It wasn’t long ago that a race with a five-figure winner’s purse would dominate national headlines for the week, but now, a $10,000-to-win feature is hardly enough to entice anyone from outside the region to attend. The sport has reached a place where those willing to put some miles on their hauler can race for $50,000 or more every week for months on end.
But there’s a whole lot more to dirt racing than the national tours and crown jewel events. Most teams don’t have the budget or desire to criss-cross the United States all season long, and that’s where the dozens of regional tours across America come into play.
While the talk about purse growth mostly centers around those national tours, not much is said about the regional scene. However, racers who stay local still have to pay for the same diesel, parts, tires, and crew help as the national tour competitors, amid the same unstable economic times we are currently in.
To get a glimpse of how things have changed, we’ll compare the current 2023 season to how things were five years ago in 2018. The following figures do not include races that were scheduled but rained out, nor do they include split-field twin features used to set the field for the following night. With that being said, here are the numbers.
| Series |
2018 Average Winner’s Purse |
2023 Average Winner’s Purse |
Percent Increase |
| Comp Cams Super Dirt Series |
$3,183 |
$8,000 |
151% |
| Southern All Stars |
$6,009 |
$7,643 |
27% |
| ULMS |
$3,442 |
$4,966 |
44% |
| MARS |
$5,250 |
$5,476 |
4% |
These are four well-known, long-standing super late model tours in four different regions of the country, so they make good subjects for this study. Additionally, they have also all begun streaming their events online in the last few years, which has undoubtedly become a key factor in the rise of dirt racing purses.
For comparison’s sake, the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series has gone from an average winner’s purse of $19,999 in 2018 to $23,436 in 2023, for an increase of 17%.
If we want to answer the question of whether or not the regional tours have kept pace with the national tours in purse money, that answer has to be a resounding “yes.” In fact, many tours have increased their purses even more than the national tours percentage wise.
The most staggering improvement certainly comes from the Comp Cams series, where the average winner’s share has more than doubled in the last five years. While that is due in part to the Arkansas-based tour co-sanctioning the $50,000-to-win Topless 100 with the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series, the 2023 schedule also includes four other events that pay at least $10,000 to the winner.
Meanwhile, both the Southern All Stars and the ULMS Racing Series have seen substantial increases to the nightly purses, with each tour having more five-figure paydays than they did five years ago. And while the MARS series has only experienced a marginal improvement during this time span, the tour already averaged a winner’s check in excess of $5,000 five years ago, an impressive number by 2018 standards.
Now that it’s clear that the promoters have stepped up their game, the question becomes: have the racers responded? Once again, the answer seems to be “yes”.
Three out of the four regional tours we have looked at have seen car counts increase over the last five years. The CCSDS is averaging 6 more cars per night, going from an average count of 24 in 2018 to 30 this season. The ULMS has seen similar improvements, with an average count of 29 in 2023 compared to 23 five years ago. The Midwest has also seen growth, as MARS has gone from 25 cars in the pits per night in 2018 to 28 so far this year.
The Southern All Stars is the only one of the four that has seen a decline, with their average car count going from 27 in 2018 to 23 thus far in 2023. While that certainly isn’t ideal, super late model racers in the south simply have more options to choose from than any other region of the country. Between the new Hunt the Front Super Dirt Series, as well as existing tours like the Schaffer’s Oil Spring and Southern Nationals, the Carolina Clash series, the Ultimate Super Late Model Series, the Iron Man series, and more, this may be a case of the sheer number of races dividing everyone up more so than a decline in overall cars in the region.
In conclusion, no, regional dirt track racing is not dying. That’s not to say there aren’t problems that need to be addressed, but as a whole, the sport is getting healthier and healthier by the year. Get out and support your local track to make sure that trend continues.
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