I Say Dirt Racers Can't Make a Living & Brad Sweet Responds!
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- Опубликовано: 18 окт 2024
- In this Kenny Conversation clip, 4-time World of Outlaws Sprint Car Champion Brad Sweet discusses making a living in dirt racing.
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***thumbnail photo by Charlie Marlow & also courtesy of Brad Sweet's twitter account
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Having dirt in your face and in your beer is one of the best parts!!!
Folks must realize, when you say you can’t make a living on dirt, you are fighting for the little guys in dirt. The guys that fill out the field. You are among the best at being their advocate! If you don’t take care of the little guys, it all falls apart. Keep having these uncomfortable talks!
$250,000 to win a sprint car race?
Big money sure has RUINED racing!
I'm surprised they don't race outlaws at wheatland mo...that's one of best dirttrack facilities in usa
Brad says that you can make a living racing dirt !!!!!!!!!!!! YOU WERE 💥WRONG💥KENNY !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Brad dropping truth bombs
You need to be careful not to sanitize the Sport either.
Need to add Lucas Oil Speedway in Missouri to that list. The facility, staff, and racing is second to none.
Brad is a great driver however I feel like he is going to end up being an even better promoter. He understands the business and what drivers and fans want. He is already doing great things with High Limit.
the High Limit video is coming soon...
@Kenny Wallace I remember when you and a bunch of other NASCAR drivers did a thing in the 90’s when I was a kid at Grandview Speedway in PA where you guys would come down and race other peoples equipment as a promotional night. My dad used to take me and my brother to that to watch and meet you all. Dirt track drivers have been trying to make a living so this for decades and not just since the 90’s but since the 70’s.
Don't forget about kyle he is the one that made it all happen
Went to a High Limit race in Eagle, Nebraska and it was a great show!!!
Take the execs to Port Royal for the beauty!!
I think the series is not paying enough for the drivers. Most exciting series in America. from PA.
I agree with you, but you can't pay what you don't have. Cup Runneth Over, you know the deal.
As a fan that has gone to Chili Bowl for almost 20 years, this year we sold our tickets and decided instead of beating the crap out of ourselves and not enjoying the feature as they drag it out for tv extravaganza. We went to midget week in Indiana. NOTHING is better than dirt,, The facility in South Dakota is stunning! I travel from Tucson, to meet, cousin from Colorado and sister from Oklahoma . So we spend, and support, What chaps my butt is once the racing in Colorado, Arizona, California was on fire, now all of the good drivers that can make the leap to moving to Midwest. I have tubs full of shirts that I keep saying no more, and come home every trip with more. Race tracks in the west are fighting to survive and I understand , it a long haul to make very little. No Budweiser Oval Nationals in Perris this year and that was some of the best November racing ever! Non wing 410. Dirt must be something special again as Indianapolis Motor Speedway has kept their little dirt track and added another night. I’m a gal happy to spend my retirement money at a dirt track!
The future of dirt track racing is In States of Ohio,Illinois,Iowa and Wisconsin. Especially for sprint cars. Theirs tons of tracks the race every Friday and Saturday night week after week for the last 40-63 years .
We raced a modified for years, I don't know anyone in our world Minnesota area that makes any money racing, you have to do it because you love it. At most of the rural small-town dirt tracks there is not a lot of sponsorship.
That being said, there are a ton of small-town local dirt tracks that are going under.
Brad is a national treasure
I go to 30 to 40 dirt races as a fan my wife will only go to the nicer tracks I get it most of the dirts are shit holes
NASCAR wants dirt and they seem like they want to own it. The day that happens is the day I quit watching and being involved. I do not want to see a chase format in any kind of dirt racing.
They tried years ago and it failed
Nascar is dying and i'm so happy, open wheel is real racing!
I don’t want to see it dumbed down but I don’t want to see the little guys drummed out of the sport either.
Dirt racing such as the outlaws need more appreciation and bigger payouts! They're under appreciated for the work them and the team do to make a living! Dirt racing is the best racing! It's where it all started!
I raced during this time of change in dirt racing. I do miss the days when guys could build their car in their garage from junkyard parts. The cars got fancier and way more expensive while income remained the same. If the ticket price rose to cover new racing costs it would further erode the fan base and tracks would lose money. I retired from racing primarily because it became more of a business than a sport, I just wasn’t having fun anymore 😂
And my crew was burnt out. Apparently I hit a wrong button and it won’t allow me to edit the glitch, emoji’s incorrectly placed are quite annoying!
Very very few can make a decent living racing sprint cars. That's a fact. Most need a regular job with some benefits to avoid down the road issues.
Dirt racing is the purest form of racing imo it all started on dirt.
Put down the grass roots tracks and you kill the grass roots driver breeding grounds. El Paso Texas was great and many big names started racing careers there to include Billy Boat and Unser Jr. Fancier tracks, bigger entry fee, no more
Little guy being able to afford to run a weekly show. Vado Speedway Park replaced the ELP tracks and it's all money guys running cars.
Kenny, you have professional broadcasting equipment. But yet Brads audio is more clear than yours. You need some adjustment. Its as if your in a HUGE room. And the echo is bad. You need a booth with insulation on the walls. BTW, great video.
the audio is fine to me
In 2007, Chrissy was the first female to ever win at Hickory.
They talk about some of these high paying races, yet the drop off as you move down is huge. Some have complained about Knoxville not paying out as large for the winner on Saturday, but the overall payout through out the field is better. 15k just to make the show vs 5k at Husets where the winner gets 250k.
There are numerous problems in this equation. First is the price of engines, parts, etc. Second is you have to bring in fans. Third is track promoters need to make money to support the track and payouts, Fourth is that drivers and teams need to make money to support themselves. Sponsors are certainly a high priority but there are those teams that are self sufficient. All told, if you want to see a sprint car show or a late model show or a modified show, SUPPORT the track and the races.
Isn’t part of this problem what it costs to run a competitive dirt car today? Especially if you’re talking a 410 sprint car or super late model? $60-70k for a motor that then costs $10k to get rebuilt. Right rear tires at $300 a piece, etc. There are a lot of great dirt tracks out there that aren’t owned by an endless bank account former NASCAR driver or an investment group out of California that simply cannot afford, under the best of circumstances, to pay someone a half a million dollars for a sprint car race.
Probably can't make a living in openwheel but definitely can in super lates which Kenny knows nothing about he's just openwheel guy not bashing you Kenny I love what you do for the dirt sport keep getting it out about dirt racing
I went to the cleanest dirt track I have ever seen about 10 years ago. Virginia Motor Speedway. Just a FYI.
People are talking about making a living from it, but the top guys that do make a living from it don't own their teams. They have wealthy car owners.
This conversation would have been very similar 75 years ago with the nascar drivers. Dirt in your face, no money it for the majority of the field, greedy promoters, vagabond lifestyle. Driving the dirt cars in modern simulators like iRacing is blast, and contributes to its increasing popularity, along with the great, honest and hardworking dirt racing community.
Brad Sweet, is a cool kid and hope he gets another shot at Nascar if he wants.
I believe he's ready!!
Fuck Nascar that ain't racing!
Good stuff
The only time auto racing paid good money was when tobacco sponsorship drew other sponsorship and TV viewers that pulled even more sponsorship. That's now a distant memory. Track owners can't draw the sponsors that they once had either. Even those days there were tons of folks that lost tons of money.
You’re highly uneducated
Dirt racing is a whole lot better than nascar
I love EL Dora. Miss the truck race from that venue. Didn’t Brad Sweet drive for Kasey Kahne? Sounds like he still does. 😎
Yes, his WoO #49 NAPA Sprint car is KKR.
That's it the chilli bowl is big but he needs to bump the purse like you said Kyle went to new Mexico for more money and less time at the track
He and Kyle should take action about their purses at their track in Chico California. I mean a class that brings 28 cars, pays $175.
The biggest problem with Dirt Racing is the race track owners are not paying anymore than they did 20 to 30 years ago.
You can't pay what you don't have seen the Grand Sands lately and any weekly show not too healthy
I have payout sheets from back in 1975 when the late model features paid 500 dollars and 99 percent of the cars here homebuilt in the family garage now cars are close to 70 to 100 thousand bucks and race for 800 to a thousand dollars on a weekly basis
@@burnychaplin4601the track up in Canada my dad and uncle raced at in the 70s used to get 5000+ fans in the stands for a race (more if Bobby Allison or the like showed up). Last time I was there a decade ago there 45 people and now they don't even hold races there, they grow weed in the parking lot now.
@@buckodonnghaile4309 I believe it we have a nice 3/8 mile track setting idle right here in my hometown it's turned into a tax right off for the owner nobody wants to put in the effort to run it and when they do the equipment quits and without financial support they are done
Lindy Vicari paid 800 bucks for lower classes, 1200 bucks for modified features, and had top competition week after week. The stands were never empty.
Other tracks were paying $200 less and struggling and had no clue.
All the drivers said Lindy was dumb---like a fox!!
This was at Reading. Chamberlain, Gerhart, Spencer, Brightbill, Browning, and on and on! Modified hot bed at the time!
Grandstands are empty because who can bring a family of 4 and pay $100 or more to see a Saturday night short track race paying a grand to win. Granted, expenses have gone through the roof, i.e., insurance, fuel for equipment, concession workers, etc. BUT promotors are making the biggest profits they ever have...
People with careers.
If we want it to grow it has to be centralized and coordinated. The largest and most prosperous racing forms in the world are not spread across multiple apps, and pissing match’s between the groups, they are housed in the same app/streaming service, with a hierarchy of series, prestige and monetary gain.
You don’t see F1 on one app and GP2 in a separate, and a break out your ruler to compare sizes such as WOO vs Allstars, DIRTVision vs. Flo, etc.
How many failed attempts have we’ve seen in the split from outlaws, and in the end it only keeps us backwoods, and hurts the sport with car counts chopped and split, so many series starting/failing, anyone new to the sport can be completely confused as to what series means what and why.
The first step will be to devise a driver’s association that encompasses all disciplines of dirt track racing, winged, non winged, and leverage it to get things in order, negotiate purses, ppv revenues, etc.
Drivers have the power to enforce change if you want it, stop squabbling and compromise for the betterment of all involved, and enforce it 🙏
Good show!
If all the also-ran guys ( and girls) just held on forever, there would be no room for aspiring talents to join. Yes, top runners should stay in until they retire, also creating some space, but they also draw crowds while they are in it.
A natural scene of failure and success, with winners and losers, just like life in most other things, as I see it.
After a couple years of dirt late models, my mom and dad pressured me to stop risking my life and limbs, be there for my kids. I moved on and created a space for another. That experience gave me enough knowledge to become a crew member of a modified team for a friend of my neighbor, Hal Browning, all while working as a mechanic and assistant service manager at a Chevrolet dealership. Fond, fond memories!
This is good stuff! Kenny is getting some quantity guest and asking great questions.
It is more fun to watch dirt track racing(and probably more fun to do) so I think Brad is on the right track(lol). Hopefully it will just take time to get where it pays more to drivers. IMO
I'd love to chase that dream but I watched my dad destroy himself for 30 years trying to be competitive and nearly ruining himself financially and physically. The sport ate him up and I refuse to have it do the same to me and mine. I wouldn't trade the memories of the dirt track life for anything though Kenny. Keep being awesome guy!
Flo racing was my best investment in 2023
Bought my first subscription in 2020. The best investment three years running and now I have a list of tracks around the country that I want to visit.
Awesome interview!!!!
Today is the day i officially forgive Brad for taking us out in practice at Bristol when he ran Xfinity, we had no backup car.😅 Brad seems like a good and honest guy.
It’s impossible to make a living unless someone else owns the car/team and they’re losing a ton of money.
I wish Perris Auto Speedway could become a staple. The only thing it's missing is a suite. The nicest thing socal has to offer that is for sure.. Love the content Herman 🇺🇸
I’m guessing brads making half a million a year personally. That’s a great living. But some of those others like Macedo are probably lucky to break $100k
Excellent conversation
Local track racing at Skagit Speedway has always been pretty awesome. Guys doing it for the passion and enjoyment. Obviously getting tougher as racing becomes more expensive. Seems like if you are just doing the racing locally for example running a competitive 360 or 410 you will need consistent sponsorship money and likely additional funds to be in the running. Nonetheless that’s pretty cool to watch and I would prefer watching local mid to low tier 410 sprint cars to top tier nascar asphalt racing any day.
want more track`s to stay open im in AZ watch 4 track close do housing project and freeway`s and owner`s sell out do to right price
Kenny, you need to fire whomever put you mascara on. Between the blinking and mascara smears on your face it’s a toss up as to which is more distracting. Great interview nonetheless
I was just watching highlights of last night's race.. Larson did it again
🤘🏻😎🤘🏻
I’ll be here
Awesome stuff dude
Great interview…….❤…thanks Brad and Kenny..
vary good guys
Problem is all the small tracks can't afford to pay out the money Brad wants
Herman's right on the money!
Kenny if you see me with my trailer coming up your driveway, and you ask me what I'm doing. I'm moving in lol. Just messing with you 🤣. Kenny Wallace RULES
Great stuff Brad
Respect to the Big Cat for putting his money where his mouth is and starting High Limit with Kyle. Talk is cheap, starting an entire series yourself that takes some stones!
Brad makes a lot of good points.
Great interview. Happy anniversary kenny!
On the flip side of this not all tracks make any $$ either out there.
Kenny, you’re talking about making a living, I’m curious if you tried to break it down to how much a hour they make? Figure in travel time, maintaining the car, race time, sponsorship events & searches and regular business issues.
As a huge fan of your show I watch every episode Kenny , you one my hero’s , you and Schrader , I got diecast from y’all on my walls and I love seeing this extra stuff to get fans in deeper , and then on top of that you have one of the best in my favorite type of racing Brad sweet. Man you don’t disappoint , tell jugg head I said hey and keep getting em Hermanator
quit racing mop floors for a living
Emmett Hahn needs to go! His kids suck the money out of all of it! His careless attitude towards what's it becomes will be its downfall! He doesn't see it! Plus, the Driller statue needs a redo!
Brad yes if alot of the tracks would make the big improvements you could bring some big sponsors and supporters to the races but they don't want to spend the cash
Could be the tracks dont have the cash😅
be careful what you wish for. don t turn sprint car racing into the shit show that is nascar.
Not sure the dirt in your hair aspect keeps anyone away, i mean plenty of C.E.Os pay lots of money to go on game hunting expeditions and do you really think that is clean? Do you really want anyone being involved in the sport that can't just take it for what it is? As for facilities, Yes absolutely, dirt tracks are usually total shìtpiles, unsafe, disorganised messes that i wouldn't take my family to, let alone a sponsor, but if you at least cleaned these places up to look presentable and have behaviour that normal civilisation accepts, and well prepped tracks that have proper classes offering good racing, then you won't need corporate suites because they will want to be right down there hanging off the safety rail with everyone else..
What is proper classes
@@fritzsmith3957 Proper classes are the ones that bring crowds, nobody wants to watch 5 different production based categories with no hopers racing them and a yellow getting thrown every 35 seconds...Whether you are an open wheel or tin top person, there is clearly a big gap between the entertainment of a good race between good drivers, and the disappointment of a 15 lap amateur hour shitshow
Well guess what without those entry-level classes you have no new people coming in number One never too many of those razors put on a better show than the Big Show does I came to four cylinders and the Bemis put on a better show than they're both classes do then of course you got your top class the sprint cars better known as flipping flops
@@fritzsmith3957 That is not true as far as i have seen. i've ran nothing but entry level classes all my life and i am not deluded enough to think the crowd are coming to watch us.....I am not a sprintcar fan either but it is what it is. Go put a wing show on with 40 low level 410s and the crowd will be good, put a 50 lap midget race on, and you could swing your grandma around in the stands without hitting anyone, sad but true.. Now i will say that i am not sure if this is only a regional issue or not, but i have seen nights here in Australia where the stands are packed for a club level sprintcar show, but when Larson, Abreu, Clauson came here to run a "big" midget show the stands were almost empty, thats the night i learned that most dirt fans love wings above all else, which is a real shame because Midget racing is by far the best racing you can watch on dirt in my opinion, especially with the best of the best on track together on a good track. But back to my point, i do agree that diehard proper fans will watch and love every class, my favourite categories are, what we call here Production Sedans and Junior Sedans, both are as entry level as it gets with huge fields and some great competitors who take it pretty seriously. But the casual spectator, the ones who actually make up 90% of the tickets on a big night, want to see wings or at the least a big late model field, modifieds would be huge here but the fields are too small.
👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍❤️❤️
I use to like kenny wallace until he wants to keep making a point to tell everyone its nascar money lmao . Actually its Hendrick money JGR money and more importantly its the fans that pay ridiculous amounts for seats money . Get off your nascar high horse professional race car drivers obviously make money outside of nascar