Championship Payout?-Purse? (2 Viewers)

[TopFuel@Lions]

Maybe I have overlooked this or flat missed it, what is the payout for the NHRA Top Fuel/Funny Car/ Pro Stock Champions for 2022?


Never in all my years (since 1964) would I ever have thought that in this era (2022) that my other world, dirt racing, that the winners bank, championship money, individual winners money, and the unreal number of high dollar races would overshadow the Drag racing scene.

I would have never thought that the World of Outlaw Sprints "and" the World of Outlaw Late Models and the Lucas Oil Dirt Late Models would outshine the drags in money and big money paying shows.

In my view and the overall picture years ago, we were number 2 behind Nascar in Tv, popularity,$$, and so on.

Thoughts on this view?


TopFuel@Lions
Talladega Announcer

 

[Cliff]

Am thinking that if a team wins T/F or F/C, the purse would cover the OTR costs & hotel for the crew. Something like that.

 

[qualified17th]

Don' think anything's been publicly released yet. I have heard that the individual race purses should be going back to somewhere close to 2019 levels, which is good

I did notice how they conveniently didn't have any big checks at the championship presentations at Pomona, too embarrassed to show how much they dropped

 

[nedannouncer]

I would have never thought that the World of Outlaw Sprints "and" the World of Outlaw Late Models and the Lucas Oil Dirt Late Models would outshine the drags in money and big money paying shows.


TopFuel@Lions
Talladega Announcer

Every single national event on the tour has a total payout of over $1,000,000. The TF and FC championship payouts are EACH double what the WoO pays their champion. An NHRA national event payout is literally 10x what a two day WoO event pays.

Brian

 

[Jimbo]

Brian:

I believe the World of Outlaws races over 100 nights a year, and that might be how they make so much money.
Drag racing and NASCAR don't come anywhere close to putting on that many shows each year.

It's kind of like comparing apples and oranges to me.

Jim Hill

 

[TopFuel@Lions]

Ok, fair enough Brian on the total purse for a national event, winners purse? There are so many races on the dirt side that pay $50,000-to-win, $75,000-to-win, $100,000-to-win and some $150 and $175,000-to-win events, the national event payout for let us say Top Fuel, is what?

What will the TF 2022 Champion receive?

Last year's XR series had 3 $50,000-to-win shows and a $100 grand bonus if ya won all 3, $$ if ya won 2 and so on. In my other world of racing, Dirt Late Models, the chance to run for huge bucks in 2022 has exploded, I just want my first love of drag racing to get on the same wagon.

TopFuel@Lions

 

[Topfuel386]

For the nitro classes last year for the 3 qualifying events it paid 44-45k to win depending on car count at the event. Pre-pandemic it paid 50k.

The total payout per nitro class was $231,500 per race with 3 qualifying attempts.

The series champion received 300k. With a total payout of $511k per nitro class. Pre pandemic the series champion received 500k.

 

[nedannouncer]

Ok, fair enough Brian on the total purse for a national event, winners purse? There are so many races on the dirt side that pay $50,000-to-win, $75,000-to-win, $100,000-to-win and some $150 and $175,000-to-win events, the national event payout for let us say Top Fuel, is what?

What will the TF 2022 Champion receive?

Last year's XR series had 3 $50,000-to-win shows and a $100 grand bonus if ya won all 3, $$ if ya won 2 and so on. In my other world of racing, Dirt Late Models, the chance to run for huge bucks in 2022 has exploded, I just want my first love of drag racing to get on the same wagon.

TopFuel@Lions

I announced a race that paid a literal million dollars to win 2 years ago.

There were less than 50 people in the stands.

I guess I am trying to figure out your fixation here.

Brian

 

[none]

Mark,
Any given weekend you can find Big Bucks races for 50K or 100K to win. And a weekend where you'll have a Friday, Saturday, Sunday 20K 20K 50K weekend is quite common.

Not to mention the at least two Guaranteed 1 Million dollar to win events. Teams who race Top Fuel know the payout before they ever build a car. Just like NASCAR Cup racers do. And the cost to field a car there is more than the purse. That's where sponsors, personal services and TV come in.

The Chili Bowl is one of (if not the) most prestigious Midget Race in the country, it pays 10K to win. And they draw the biggest names in racing, not just in Midget Racing. Does Kyle Larson, Christopher Bell or Tanner Thorson complain about the purse? No, they are proud to compete and win on that stage. There's WAY more to it than just how big the check is.

Alan

 

[handsome]

it always cracks me up when i read a post like this..... why does it matter? are you losing sleep over what other people spend / win?

 

[Cliff]

Was reading Alan's post about the Chili Bowl. Low purse but they race for the love of racing. I think that sums up drag racing. There will never be a purse that you can use to cover the cost of racing. You do it cuz you love racing. No matter what the class I would bet that 99% of the racers are hard core and will stay at it one way or the other.

 

[Nunz]

There was a period in time when drag racers could make money racing professionally without any kind of backing, I would say for the most part the '70s when there were just a few national events and match racers made a great living, especially FC racers. But like every other motorsport, once drag racing became about a season long pursuit of a championship, the whole model changed. Racing will never be a money maker for the participant, unless the racer has some sort of sponsorship to offset the costs. Yes I know there are exceptions. We all know about the big dollar bracket races, but they are more like a high stakes poker game that you buy into. Everybody likes to hype the fact that so and so won 100k or whatever in their bracket car, but how many participants in that event went home in the red? Usually everybody but the winner and maybe the runnerup, and those big dollar events have a LOT of entries.

 

[aakar]

Mark,
Any given weekend you can find Big Bucks races for 50K or 100K to win. And a weekend where you'll have a Friday, Saturday, Sunday 20K 20K 50K weekend is quite common.

Not to mention the at least two Guaranteed 1 Million dollar to win events. Teams who race Top Fuel know the payout before they ever build a car. Just like NASCAR Cup racers do. And the cost to field a car there is more than the purse. That's where sponsors, personal services and TV come in.

The Chili Bowl is one of (if not the) most prestigious Midget Race in the country, it pays 10K to win. And they draw the biggest names in racing, not just in Midget Racing. Does Kyle Larson, Christopher Bell or Tanner Thorson complain about the purse? No, they are proud to compete and win on that stage. There's WAY more to it than just how big the check is.

Alan

You have a dream job in NHRA, and are damn good @ it, no doubt you love your job and position. If your earnings were cut, you would possibly continue. But I bet you would complain about the pay cut, same as the racers do.

 

[MM]

There was a period in time when drag racers could make money racing professionally without any kind of backing, I would say for the most part the '70s when there were just a few national events and match racers made a great living, especially FC racers. But like every other motorsport, once drag racing became about a season long pursuit of a championship, the whole model changed. Racing will never be a money maker for the participant, unless the racer has some sort of sponsorship to offset the costs. Yes I know there are exceptions. We all know about the big dollar bracket races, but they are more like a high stakes poker game that you buy into. Everybody likes to hype the fact that so and so won 100k or whatever in their bracket car, but how many participants in that event went home in the red? Usually everybody but the winner and maybe the runnerup, and those big dollar events have a LOT of entries.

I think to say that the people that were able to make a great living on the match race circuit had no backing is a little misleading. The reason those guys were able to do so well barnstorming the country was because the only things they had to pay for were gas, food, and hotel rooms. Everything else they got for free from the manufacturers or factory support whether it was parts, fuel, oil etc. That's still the way many sponsorships are maintained, not through money, but through either free or a heavily discounted product.

 

[none]

You have a dream job in NHRA, and are damn good @ it, no doubt you love your job and position. If your earnings were cut, you would possibly continue. But I bet you would complain about the pay cut, same as the racers do.

I did take a pay cut, as did everybody else in the NHRA. I understood why and was willing to take the cut because of the circumstances.
My options were come back to work at a reduced salary or stay home. I went back to work.
I could have said no and sat out, but I thought it was important to get us back on track (literally and figuratively) and I was willing to work for less to help get us through the crisis.

Alan

 

[ol21stud]

Ok, fair enough Brian on the total purse for a national event, winners purse? There are so many races on the dirt side that pay $50,000-to-win, $75,000-to-win, $100,000-to-win and some $150 and $175,000-to-win events, the national event payout for let us say Top Fuel, is what?

What will the TF 2022 Champion receive?

Last year's XR series had 3 $50,000-to-win shows and a $100 grand bonus if ya won all 3, $$ if ya won 2 and so on. In my other world of racing, Dirt Late Models, the chance to run for huge bucks in 2022 has exploded, I just want my first love of drag racing to get on the same wagon.

TopFuel@Lions

Do any of you know what a full season racing of the dirt cars Mark mentions above costs in comparison to T/F, F/C or even Pro Stock?
At the same time, the reason people race any series is numerous and varies for many reasons. Honestly I don't think Kallita races for the same basic reasons that John Force does and they are both NHRA Nitro Racers.

 

[Dragracer]

Garlits has said that during the 60's he made a million dollars one year.

 

[MM]

Garlits has said that during the 60's he made a million dollars one year.

Back when a million dollars was a lot of money.

 

[nedannouncer]

Garlits has said that during the 60's he made a million dollars one year.

Where and when?

 

[TopFuel@Lions]

I would like to thank all for this honest, respectful, and civil discussion. I was trying to point out the differences these days.

If I was asked if I would go to the Winternationals, Indy, Bristol and so on over the World 100, Knoxville Nationals, Super Dirt Week, the I.M.C.A. Supernationals, Williams Grove National Open, Kings Royal, Chili Bowl, Snowball Derby, or a multitude of other big oval events, I would choose a NHRA National event, just like I have and will since 1965. There is nothing like nitro...period!

TopFuel@Lions
Talladega Announcer