Racing legend and the brother of ex-NASCAR Cup series champion Rusty Wallace, Kenny Wallace , has given insight into the changed dynamic of the racing business in the States. Since becoming a broadcaster and now a full-pledged YouTuber, the ex-Toyota driver has been sharing valuable insights about sports evaluation with fans.
Recently, he shared a video via his social media detailing how the racing business has changed over the years. Kenny Wallace pointed out that unlike in the past, parents now don’t have to spend over $100,000 to build cars for their children to race. Instead, they can approach teams with eight to ten CB cars for a ride.
These teams will let the child drive one of their cars for $5000 or similar sums, and the parents don’t have to bother about anything, including the insurance to race. The new evaluation of the business has made it a rental business, and the parents now rent resources they need to kick start their children’s racing career
The business dynamic now is people are starting race teams. So those CB cars they have about 8 or 10 of them already. So the mom and dads just go there, and the CB goes, ‘ Ah, give me five grand!’ and parents are like, I can give you $5,000, and my kid can drive the car, and it’s a win for everybody. Wallace said via Late Night with Kenny Wallace.
The new model might be good for the sport
Over the years, racing has gotten more expensive than ever, and unlike the roots of NASCAR, it is very hard for a prodigy’s talent to rise up the NASCAR ladder solely based on his talents. Sponsorship has now become more important than ever, and for families that can’t afford such high costs, the rental model is the right path forward. Wallace believes the same.
It can be looked at as, oh, the wealthy people… No, it actually kind of saves the money because the car owners are making money. Now that Mom and Dad don’t gotta build the building, they don’t got all the expenses. That’s a good way to see if your kid can make it or not. But we see it in NASCAR now. I’m not saying it’s bad; it’s a good dynamic. It’s a new business model.
But this change comes at a cost. NASCAR’s history is rooted in families building cars in the garages or race shops to fight for the crown, and as this model changes, drivers might lose their passion for the car. This, along with a win-at-all-cost mentality, might lead to hyper-aggressive racing that will be bad for the sport.
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