He said in an interview on jayski that he is using Nascar to one day fulfille his dream to run the full WOO sprint series. I think that most Nascar drivers hate running the cup series but only do so for the money.
You got to love. Larson
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Larson is star for sure, but his dream of WOO full time would have to be after he is completely finished with Nascar. It will just not work any other way. IMO to put the breaks on his Nascar career with the idea of coming back at a later date would be very difficult to pull off. The reason being that getting to the point where you can win races in Nascar takes a huge total team effort. It takes a few years to get to that point. In the mean time he can still running most of the big WOO races he wants too.
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Larson shows no signs of being a fool so it's probably a cinch that he'll be driving a NASCAR Cup car on a regular basis for the foreseeable future. His affection for dirt racing is refreshing. It appears that Kyle believes the more he runs the midgets and sprints the sharper it makes him in the Cup car. I doubt anyone could produce an argument against that.
Kyle Larson is probably the best all around driver on the planet and is a talent that comes along just once in 2 or 3 generations but unfortunately, given the circumstances and contractual obligations of modern day motor sports he can't go and race like guys such as A.J. and Mario once did.
Even though all of us would love to see him race regularly on dirt personally I feel very fortunate to get to see him race on dirt at events like Turkey Night Grand Prix, the Knoxville Nationals and The Chili Bowl.
In addition to his dirt racing there are a lot of fans out there that would love to see Kyle qualify one of Chips Indy Cars for the Indy 500. I think that will happen, it's just a question of when.
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Nascar has really taken a hit the last 5 years and it got even more slimmed down this year. Its the reason why a lot of veteran guys have retired. While many of the Monster cup guys are making a million or more, the younger guys are getting cut to $300k or less per year contracts (with incentives might push them close to $1mil). Think that article even said teams went from 90-100 million budgets per car to 8-10 million per year. Cant really blame the vets for taking their cash and retiring especially with 1/10 of the salary being offered. Hopefully more transition back into grass roots racing. I also hope it means the drivers are less likely to have terms in their contracts that restrict their racing outside of napcar.Originally posted by jog49 View PostEven the most obscure of NASCAR drivers is a multi-millionaire so yes, they do it for the money. Lately, NASCAR is sucking hind tit to the piglet races at the county fair.
As NASCAR teams adjust to lower sponsorship revenue, they continue to reduce costs and as a result, many drivers are feeling the pinch in their salaries. Multiple teams this season turned to younger drivers to replace veterans, or renegotiated contracts with incumbent veterans, to trim what can make up one third of their annual budget.
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It's funny in that Tony Stewart got fed up with NASCRAP and I personally believe is much happier than he has ever been. Jr. got out for the same reason. The FUN was gone. They both own teams. The money is still a factor. They make a lot. Larson, will follow in TS path I feel. The big difference being I think he will get out when he can still be competitive in a sprint car. Kyle will climb in a sprint car every chance he gets. At his age he could stick around for another 10 yrs and still be able to be competitive in a open wheel car. Could it be sooner ? Would not surprise me at all...
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I don't have any idea what Cup drivers are making these days so correct me if I'm wrong, but what I think I hear you saying is NASCAR Cup drivers' salaries have become much more merit sensitive. In other words, if a driver doesn't produce they don't make the money. Personally, I see this as a very good thing and will obviously help to hold down costs for the less funded teams. There was a day that a guy that road around in 25th position all year made way more than he ever should have. I'm kinda' glad to see that swinging the other way. 20 years ago a middle of the road, mediocre driver was nailing down a lot more than he ever should have simply due to bloated sponsor budgets for middle of the road teams.Originally posted by tb1545 View PostNascar has really taken a hit the last 5 years and it got even more slimmed down this year. Its the reason why a lot of veteran guys have retired. While many of the Monster cup guys are making a million or more, the younger guys are getting cut to $300k or less per year contracts (with incentives might push them close to $1mil). Think that article even said teams went from 90-100 million budgets per car to 8-10 million per year. Cant really blame the vets for taking their cash and retiring especially with 1/10 of the salary being offered. Hopefully more transition back into grass roots racing. I also hope it means the drivers are less likely to have terms in their contracts that restrict their racing outside of napcar.
http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/J...-salaries.aspx
All that said, things are going to have to change a bunch more before it's possible to clear more money racing on the dirt than in NASCAR Cup. A lot of that has to do with sponsorship value and TV which hikes the average payout per race.Last edited by CIRF; 12-26-2017, 02:48 PM.
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Actually, Jimmie is reported to have made over $21 million in 2016 which made him the highest paid Cup driver.Originally posted by formercrewguy View PostJimmie Johnson makes no less than 10mil/yr. probably much more now.
I believe these numbers to be obscene, just as the amount of money made by stick and ball sports is even more obscene, but if anyone deserves to be at the top of the pay scale for his profession it's Jimmie Johnson. He's been the gold standard of NASCAR Cup racing for over a decade.
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