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"...teams need drivers who have money who can drive."
when you say "have money", does that mean the driver is wealthy?
or, does it mean the driver will already have sponsorships?
regardless, how much money? please give a USD figure.
finally, if someone who is rich gives money to the team,
and the team wins one race, what is the return on investment?
No specific information...only my observations.
For the team at Daytona, the owner has several high-end dealerships and appears to be self-funded. The car has no sponsor decals at all. In the team photo, there 18 support members and four drivers. There was one transport at the event and a large RV. Most of the team is not based in the US so a lot of this stuff is shipped in. The plan was to race only at Daytona. One team member guessed it was costing the owner around $800k to race in this one event. I didn’t ask for a breakdown.
As far as I can tell, there is no ROI. These guys do it for the love of the sport and, probably a tax deduction. V’s mentor in 2017 owned a couple of car dealerships and was a “gentleman racer”. Their plane, when I met this guy and his wife at Mid-Ohio, was getting a new interior so he flew his helicopter to the event. Great, great, great, guy...he was killed while racing last year.
Each class winner’s drivers’ team gets a Rolex Daytona. That’s typically four watches for each team x four teams. Purse payoff? No clue but I doubt it covers the cost of the race itself. The real money is probably from sponsors and owners’ own pockets...or manufacturers. Even manufacturers aren’t bulletproof....there’s talk of BMW dropping out after this year....and they won the GTLM class at Daytona.
V’s a great kid. Everyone knows him, likes him and knows he has no money. But they know he’s also a great driver. Every year, I ask people at the track if he has what it takes to be an Indy car driver. To a person, they all say yes. Well, that and $10M might get him there. Lol If he can catch a break, he’ll be the next great Indy car driver from his country.
The pruse payout is low, and as noted, not why these guys race.
At Daytona, 1st place in "V's" class gets $35k, with a scale down to $5k for something like 7th place. There can be a little more money involved, as there is also price money for season points total, and Endurance Cup (4 of the season's races) total, but again, not enough to make a dent in the budget.
The numbers I've heard for running that class is a little less than $800k, for Daytona, but every team is different (perhaps more in the $600k range), but obviously way more than any prize money you'll get. The pro classes will cost more.
These races get paid for by sponsorships, the amateur drivers bringing cash (either the drivers paying directly, or by them bringing sponsorship with them), and some the team owners who invest and do it for the love it racing. In the Pro classes, many (but not all) teams are factory backed, so the manufacturers feel it is a good marketing investment.
There was a neat documentary of actor Patrick Dempsey's year up to his 1st race at Le Mans a few years back. The team ran out of money and had to skip a few races due to funding issues. If someone like Patrick Dempsey in the height of Grey's Anatomy days couldn't raise the cash for a full season run, you know its tough "business"
One of the cool prizes that the winners get is a Rolex Daytona. Scott Pruitt talks about his Rolex watch collection here.
"You ask any guy who’s won one and they’ll tell you, you win a trophy and it stays at home. You win a million bucks and you never see it again. When you win that watch, it’s something you can wear every day.”
I'm one of those strange guys who loves watches as much as cars. Automatic watches are the perfect machines in miniature!
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