T - two very perceptive thoughts. I learned last weekend that tuning a fuel car is much more complicated than most of us could have realized.
And - depending on the situation, a crew chief could also be the team manager. It's quickly becoming obvious that there is a shortage of people who can handle all of this.
Did Jimmy leave because Dexter couldn't match KB's offer? We'll never know.
I constantly hear that most of the top NHRA teams title sponsorships are $500K or much less for the entire season. So . . . we have several very successful business people who are actually running on their own ticket.
I can GUARANTEE you that the minimum to sponsor a NASCAR top ten team is $25 million. It's going to be very interesting to see if all of the NHRA high rollers make it through the entire season.

__________________
"The Counterfeiter"

Jim....FYI...the annual budget for a Top 10 T/F team is in the $2,250,000 -$2,500,000 range, and add about $250,000 for a Funny Car...

Now, there ARE some deas out there that are Primary Sponsorships that are in the $500,000-$1,000,000 range, but that is NOT close to what these teams spend...I'll bet KB is getting $3,000,000+ and I am POSITIVE that JFR spends in excess of $10,000,000...WELL in excess...

:-)

I've heard everything from mid hundred thousands to mid millions, both from someone who knew.

That in theory is correct....But its pretty hard to spend less than $1,000,000 to run these cars and actually make the show..In fact, NOW it is harder than ever..

Many of these teams are heavily subsidized by their owners...A great example of that is Bob Gilbertson..I know what he gets from Prestone (out of respect for Bob, I will not divulge the figure..), and trust me, many of us make more than that every year...You would be shocked...

When Baca had American Racing a few years ago, that deal was barely over $100,000...He gave them the Primary Position, because he thought it would be more credible in his search for sponsorship, if his team had the image of already being sponsored..In some ways I agree with that, but I would approach it differently...

If I were in those same shoes, I would have a HUGE "YOUR COMPANY HERE" up the side of my car.....Seriously..Like THAT wouldn't attract attention that you were clearly were looking for a sponsor...? And if the car was making the shows and running half way decent, you certainly would get some play....Trust me, I've done it and it works pretty well if done right...

Jay

It's funny you should mention that Jay... When I did all of Baca's Alcohol renderings, I would put "YOUR COMPANY HERE" or "SPONSOR NEEDED" and he would just laugh and make me change it... I guess I had the right idea, just the wrong customer...
WHO KNEW!! I thought it would work...
Thanks for making me feel better... THANKS!!

__________________
theDARKSIDE- TOP ALCOHOL DRAGSTER*

LOL...It works, bro....

No prob...LOL

The range I heard a couple years ago from one person (who's probably reading this, hello, ) was $600,000 to $4.5 million. I consulted a few team owners, again pertaining to something I was working on, and came up with an average of $3 million then.

$600,000 to $4,500,000 is a huge range...lol

In a perfect world, you are making a good living at $3,000,000...To run one of these cars well, ONCE YOU HAVE EVERYTHING, and testing every Monday that you can, you will spend a bit over $2,200,000...A lot of this of course, depends on your crew chief...There are a few making BIG, BIG dollars...Mostly though, my understanding is that once you take Austin, Bernie, Prock, and Medlen from JFR, and Alan Johnson out of the mix, base salaries are in the $120,000-$180,000 range, plus a piece of the prize money....Of course, all of the deals out there are a bit different...

Those ranges are for two different teams.

I also heard of examples of lower budget owners doing better P.R. work and having more satisfied sponsors and the other way around for at least one high dollar/high profile operation that wasn't around for long. Their "different ends of the spectrum" budgets did NOT equate into "different ends of the spectrum" performances on the track.

That is the bottom line...Walsh said yes

I said that 107 posts ago...
Goodmorning David... One lump or Two??

__________________
theDARKSIDE- TOP ALCOHOL DRAGSTER*

LMAO....!!!

I've been saying it all along...and I take my coffee black,no sugar

David
You are right, you did say it on post # 149
However I have been saying it since post #s 99 & 122
So I do apolgize because your posts have always been very good... But I waited a long time before I posted on this matter, as I am sure you did to... No sugar??

__________________
theDARKSIDE- TOP ALCOHOL DRAGSTER*

Age and treachery will overcome youth and skill everytime.........

the best time to look for a job is when you have one............

drivers don't matter much anymore , the crew chiefs drive these cars..
they are the stars.....not the J.R.Todds. no offense to him.

Drivers are a dime a dozen. Crew Chiefs, on the other hand.....

knowledge is power......

this is the information age...........

get over it folks. if someone wants to pay me more money and get me to leave my current job, I ain't gonna say , well , I really should wait until the end of the fiscal year because that would be better for my current employer...

I don't see anything wrong. Competing for talent is what good companies do, and KB is running a company.

Now, how many days till Gainesville