CONCORD, N.C. — What can you get for $279?
Professional race car drivers can purchase an insurance policy worth a half of million for that exact amount.
Longtime winged sprint car racer Shane Stewart, who also operates Oklahoma’s Port City Raceway, is the man responsible for educating racers about the Competitive Advantage Program offered by Sports Insurance Specialists.
Open to drivers and crew members, CAP plan benefits include $500,000 full excess accident medical expenses above the participant’s insurance and track insurance, $10,000 accidental death and dismemberment coverage and other benefits from a policy that lasts one year.
“The CAP program is super cheap. In racer’s terms, if you break it down, even if you race a small schedule, say you race a schedule like Port City that is 35 to 40 races, that about 6 bucks a night when you break it all down,” Stewart told SPEED SPORT. “It is super cheap. It is year to date, so if you sign up today it is good through that date the following year.
“There is a $15,000 deductible, but typically your personal insurance and the race track’s insurance will cover that,” Stewart added. “So, you are more than likely going to get a whole $500,000 on top of your personal insurance and the track insurance. That’s when the CAP policy would kick in. You are going to get nearly a half million dollars in insurance that you can’t put a figure on.
“If you are in that situation, you need that $500,000. It’s huge.”
Stewart, who acknowledged “not in a hundred million years did I think I would be selling insurance,” knows firsthand that drivers don’t always prioritize insurance coverage.
“It is something that none of us really want to think about because you don’t really need this program until something bad happens,” Stewart explained. “There have been several people, drivers, crew members who have used this program and it worked out well for them. If they didn’t have it, they would have been left with hundreds of thousands of medical bills that they couldn’t afford to pay.
“With this $279 policy that is good for the year, they were able to help pay for their medical bills and they don’t go into debt because of it.
“That’s reality, when you get hurt, and are laid up in the hospital, they charge you for everything. When you take a piece of toilet paper off the roll, they are charging you for it,” he said. “On top of that, how did you get to the hospital? Typically, it is an ambulance ride or a helicopter ride and all of that adds up. The CAP program is something that is important for all of us to have.”
Educating Racers
Stewart knows a big part of his job is educating racers and their families about the CAP plan, and he says the CAP website (https://www.competitiveadvantageprogram.com) has an important role in that process.
“Sometimes it is like pulling teeth when you are talking to race car drivers, but it is an important program that needs to be out there in front of people so that they actually understand it,” Stewart said. “A lot of people don’t understand the insurance side of it. That’s why I am here.
“It is easy to understand. Thankful to MyRacePass and Clint Doll, they have reprogrammed our website and it is very self-explanatory. It helps you understand it. My information is on there and people can reach out and I can help cross the Ts and do the Is.”
Stewart believes today’s racers are more knowledgeable about insurance than those of his era.
“It is like anything, I think people are more educated about everything,” he said. “I feel like on top of that, the wives and the moms and the girlfriends are more savvy about it. Honestly, when you sit down and talk to people, those are typically the people I go chat with. It’s not the drivers because we think we are all ironmen like Andy Hillenburg (longtime sprint car driver known for his consecutive starts streak), but we’re not.
“Unfortunately, things happen. But it’s those people who are left behind who have to deal with all this crazy stuff while you are laid up in the hospital. Those are the people I try to reach.”
According to Stewart, there are few limitations to the coverage provided the racer is participating at sanctioned facilities.
“If you race a sprint car or a midget or a micro, if you are like Kyle Larson and you go race Indy or whatever, as long it is an organized race, it doesn’t matter what type of car you race as long as it has a cage, you are covered,” he said. “That’s another cool thing about this program. It doesn’t matter what track you are at, it is fully covered under the CAP policy.”
Stewart doesn’t sugarcoat things when discussing racers’ needs for insurance.
“When I was young and first starting out in racing, I didn’t think of any of this stuff,” he acknowledged. “I’m guilty as the rest of them, but when you see people like Daison Pursley, who have been through it all, thankfully, he was one of the lucky ones that came out on the good end and was able to still race. But he was left with a lot of medical bills.
“Chase Johnson is a great example,” Stewart said. “This half-million-dollar policy would have been huge for him if he had it. I hate to use these people as examples, but they are people that we recognize because they are fresh in our memories.
“These are the people who would have benefitted from this policy.”
Stacking Policies
Stewart also noted that having another racing insurance policy does not prevent a racer from also having a CAP plan.
“You can stack these policies. You can have STIDA (Short Track Independent Drivers and Associates) and the CAP program,” Stewart noted. “That’s something most people don’t know that. You can have both. They are important programs to have. Every driver out there needs it. It is eligible for crew people, too. I know crew people who have been hurt at the race track and this program would have paid for it.
“It is a program that needs to be pushed. The more people have this program the better it is for the whole industry.”
According to Stewart there is one major misconception regarding insurance on part of racers and crew members.
“Most people think that their personal insurance covers them for racing events and it does not,” said the 36-time World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series feature winner. “That’s the other scary side to it. There are a lot of drivers out there who think that they are covered and they are not. When I raced professionally, I had workman’s comp and policies like that that covered me, but I did it for a living.
“The part-time racers think that their insurance is going to cover them when they get hurt at an event and they more than likely are not. This program is more important because of that.
“Typically, when someone gets hurt, it falls on your personal insurance, then it goes to the track and the series, and this policy. If your personal insurance doesn’t cover anything, it falls on the track and most tracks don’t have a lot of insurance dollars set aside to hurt someone who has been critically hurt.”
As the promoter at Port City, Stewart understands the program from the track standpoint as well.
“Being a track owner, I see that it helps the track side of it too, because typically when people are covered,” Stewart said. “They don’t have to come back on the track and say, ‘I’ve been hurt, my medical bills are x, y, z and I can’t afford to pay these bills. If you have this policy in place, you don’t even have to worry about the track.”
What’s Stewart’s bottom line regarding the CAP plan?
“At the end of the day, when you break it down by how many races you race in a season, it comes down to pennies,” he said. “Anytime you can help take care of your family, you can’t put a dollar figure on that. That’s why it is so important to have.”
Those wanting to learn more about the CAP program can visit the website, or email Stewart at shane@kicksomerisk.com.
