Neighborhood in Shock as NASCAR Workforce Proprietor Reveals The Heavy Price of Racing

For many NASCAR groups, the roar of the engine is powered by one factor: Cash. And never simply prize cash. However, actual, regular funding. In 2023, prime organizations like Hendrick Motorsports and Joe Gibbs Racing raked in wherever from $70 million to $141 million simply from sponsorship revenues. However what in regards to the smaller groups? Those with out billion-dollar backers or full-season sponsors? In easy phrases: Each bill hurts. Whereas it could appear like they’re racing beneath the identical guidelines, they’re taking part in a completely totally different sport—a brutal actuality that one group proprietor just lately gave a uncommon, uncooked glimpse of (one overpriced half at a time!).

In a sport dominated by powerhouse operations with deep pockets and sponsorship struggle chests, small NASCAR groups usually discover themselves taking part in protection each week. The unhappy actuality is that they’re not simply racing for wins, however to actually hold the lights on. Whereas the highest Cup groups can afford to constitution flights, improve each element, and chase marginal good points, smaller outfits struggle to area a full automotive. Their haulers are older, their components scarcer, and their crews? Typically pulling double responsibility between wrenching and logistics. Reaume Brothers Racing is one such group.

Owned by journeyman driver Josh Reaume, the group operates principally within the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Collection and infrequently ventures into Xfinity, with proprietor Josh Reaume even doubling down as a racecar driver. With restricted assets and a fame for laborious work and hustle, RBR survives in a world that’s troublesome for the underdog. However even their resilience has a breaking level, particularly when prices hold hovering.

That frustration hit a boiling level on June 12 when Reaume posted on X about a purchase order that left the neighborhood shocked. “Costs for components are outta management. These gasoline overflow hoses had been $800 for the pair. 🤮” Reaume wrote, including, “No less than they’re ribbed. 🤷‍♂️” The tweet was laced with sarcasm, however it spoke volumes. At a time when even mid-tier groups are tightening belts, smaller squads are choking beneath the strain of primary bills.

And Reaume’s not alone on this. Throughout the NASCAR storage, groups are feeling the squeeze. However it’s posts like these that peel again the curtain and remind followers what racing actually prices whenever you’re not backed by a billion-dollar model. And the followers? Even that they had a phrase or two to say about rising prices choking the game’s grassroots spirit.

Followers pontificate as prices gasoline NASCAR’s rising divide

The second Josh Reaume hit ‘publish’ on that tweet about $800 gasoline hoses, NASCAR’s on-line neighborhood didn’t simply shrug. It sparked a storm. For a lot of, it felt like one other brick within the wall separating the game’s wealthy and resourceful from these barely making it to the monitor. One fan put it plainly: “No marvel it’s unsustainable for individuals with no or much less monetary backing and why the wealthy are slowly taking up.” Even Dale Earnhardt Jr. has echoed that sentiment lately, revealing that the ballooning prices, together with these for charters, had been one motive he never expanded JR Motorsports into a full-time Cup effort.

One other fan chimed in with shock over the value bounce, asking, “Wasn’t that like a $45 half just a few years in the past?!?!?!” The reply got here fast. “Single supply provider, child! That provider, after all, being NASCAR.” And so they’re not incorrect. Within the Gen-7 period, NASCAR moved to a single-source components system. All the pieces from chassis to wheels comes from NASCAR-approved distributors. Whereas the objective was parity and security, it has created what many name a monopoly. No buying round. No reductions. Simply NASCAR costs.

This mannequin may be fairer on paper, however it’s killing flexibility for groups making an attempt to get by. As one consumer put it. “NASCAR makes it so laborious to develop the game.” The frustration isn’t simply with half costs. There’s rising stress across the sport’s construction, particularly as groups like 23XI Racing proceed to struggle NASCAR in court docket over monopoly points and its lack of long-term worth.

One fan commented, “Please inform me that is satire.” Whereas Reaume didn’t reply, one other fan did together with his personal satirical take. “Tape – $2. Tape for filmmaking – $10. That very same tape for filmmaking however bought for racing – $20.” It’s a joke, certain. But additionally… not likely. If NASCAR doesn’t handle these price obstacles quickly, who precisely will likely be left to race?