Rental Rides in DLM Racing

[zach51]

I’ve been thinking about this recently regarding many USAC (open wheel) teams, and a comment in the Rice brothers thread provoked me to start a discussion. Outside of having an ace driver behind the seat (and the number of those out there is arguable, I’d say less than 15-20 in the country), would a late model team owner that is actually hoping to make a few bucks rather than lose a few not be better off with a rent-a-ride fleet? Whether it be an experienced driver that may be out of a ride and just want to run select events, or a guy that maybe has some racing experience and just want to dabble here and there and show up with the helmet bad without the stress of having to maintain a car. If you had a rig that could haul two cars, and you rented them for $2,000 to $5,000 an event based on the laps and demand for a ride in the event, I’d think an owner would have a lot better shot at making a buck. Granted, for owners that just want to win (and I don’t know of anybody in racing that doesn’t want to win) they may not see consistent results, but maybe can turn a profit.

Many cars in the USAC classes (i.e. Keith Kunz are rental/sponsor subsidized/however you want to call it funded) switch drivers throughout the year. 1/3 of the cars at the Chili Bowl probably have drivers in them that wouldn’t be if they didn’t bring money.

I’m sure there are some dirt late model owners out there that do this, but you just don’t see or hear about it as much as in open wheel (even IndyCar).

Thoughts?

[riddle28]

i think dillon does it with their crate cars, but its more like a consultation deal too tho i think

[old fan]

Jim Moon has a rental ride

[dirtMAN007]

In your scenario the driver starts out 2000 to 5000 in the hole ........ I don't know of many willing to go there !

[hipower17]

is there anyone who rents alum. late model engines?

[zach51]

Very true dirtMan, but if you get a driver that is confident, or just has cash to blow. I've thought about running the Chili Bowl before (and still may before I die), and you can rent a solid ride for about $7500 (that would be a middle-high quality ride). If I have a family and work obligations and don't want to mess with running and maintaining my own operation 365 days a year, I could take the budget I'd be spending, put it into one race, and come out wayyy ahead, and get to run the biggest race on dirt.

For the late models, I'd think you could do something like rent a ride for whatever the race pays to win (with about a $5,000 cap), or maybe even start money for the top races, and let the driver keep the winnings. This would do a couple of things. A driver has a chance to make his money back plus have some fun, and gives him incentive not to tear it up. (Of course you'd have to implement some type of crash deposit). At the bigger races, they'd have an opportunity to make a little money.

I'd think there are owners out there that if guaranteed 1st place money before the cars rolls out of the trailer would be all over it. But maybe I'm wrong.

[over4T]

One of our NorCal area teams has a fleet of 5-10 Limited Lates (604 or 2 barrelled steel 406) that will rent them out for $500 per race plus crash damage to competent drivers that run another class normally or just want to race without the maintainence responsibilities. Owner gets the winnings and it keeps the cars from just sitting in the barn.