I don't know, but I imagine the finances of US
professional racing are as varied as the cars and
drivers that compete. Especially at the sort of
"semi-pro" level that races at Daytona.
Last year's Daytona winner for example (the Racer's
Group Porsche 996) is primarily paid for by the
Racer's Group, which is a company that sells racing
and high-performance products for Porsche cars. The
owner of the Racer's Group is one of the drivers. So
in effect, it's his company paying for his hobby.
Does he get a lot of exposure out of it? Sure he
does, but in a roundabout way, he's paying for his own
racing. The same is also pretty much true of the
Champion Porsche teams in various series. Good ol'
Dave Maraj is a rich racing junkie, with the resources
of one of the world's highest-volume Porsche
dealerships behind his passion. He gets other
benefits, of course, and as his success has grown he
can attract some sponsors to help defray costs, but
when you come right down to it, he's paying to go big
time racing and rolling the costs through his
company's operating budget. (Please be aware that I'm
not KNOCKING this practice - I'm envious as all
hell...)
As for the rest of the guys out there, well, I imagine
it varies. Brumos Porsche runs two cars at Daytona -
the Brumos liveried car and the Red Bull car. I have
a feeling the Red Bull car is probably pretty well
funded by that company, but a lot of the costs are
almost certainly absorbed by Brumos. The Olive Garden
Ferrari 550 that runs in the ALMS series is apparently
pretty well funded, but Olive Garden has pulled its
sponsorship for 2004, so who knows what will happen
now?
Most of the rest of the cars at Daytona have company
names plastered on them that most of us have never
heard of. I have a feeling that the lion's share of
these efforts boil down to "mini Maraj" guys - namely
really rich businessmen who own really successful
companies and can justify going big-time racing on the
company's money. Then defraying as much of the costs
as possible through other paying sponsors who pony up
realtively small amounts of money to be involved.
But that's just my guess. I could be wrong...
=====
Paul Misencik - 1971 MGB - www.sopwithracing.com
THE CAROLINA TROPHY - 2005
A vintage driving event in the spirit
of the Mille Miglia, Rallye des Alpes,
and Colorado Grand.
See www.carolinatrophy.com for details.
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