Racing is a wonderful sport that brings enjoyment and pleasure to countless people around the globe, but I am going to let you in on a little secret. Racing is expensive. Nearly every team has many moving parts and contributors to keep things running up and down the road and to the next track each night.
Racing is a wonderful sport that brings enjoyment and pleasure to countless people around the globe, but I am going to let you in on a little secret. Racing is expensive. Nearly every team has many moving parts and contributors to keep things running up and down the road and to the next track each night. Teams that provide a living for either driver, crew, or both have even more obstacles to overcome in order to operate.
Race winnings are an obvious revenue stream, but anyone who has any knowledge of the costs of racing whatsoever knows that it is virtually impossible to bring in enough prize money to cover the operating expenses of a car, much less pay a driver and/or crew members. Race earnings are just one piece of the puzzle and a team has to be able to weather an inevitable streak of less than desirable results and winnings with other income.
The most crucial form of income for a race team comes from the logos you see on the sides of the cars: sponsors. Businesses or individuals paying a team, either money or products, in exchange for advertisement or exposure is the foundation for most teams‘ financial health. There are obviously some exceptions to this, such as an individual having enough money to field the car themselves out of pocket, but for the most part sponsorship is the most important revenue stream for a professional team.
Some of the most important people involved with race teams could be considered unsung heroes. These businesses or individuals provide financial or other forms of support such as diesel, tires, engines, etc. and wish to receive no public recognition. Most of these unsung heroes simply have a deep passion for the sport and enjoy being involved with a particular team. I would say the average fan would be shocked at how many teams depend on these behind-the-scenes supporters to make ends meet.
I have been fortunate throughout my career to have some great unsung heroes in my corner. Mike and Megan Eubanks of Tel-Star Technologies gave my wife and I some once-in-a-lifetime opportunities to help us be able to start and own our own race team, and are still crucial to our success today. One of my supporters, who has also been extremely influential in the career and success of other racers, is Gene Franckowiak.
Gene graciously provides our engines for the USAC championship tour, which is a huge boost to our team. Gene has been an integral part of two USAC National championships, one for myself and Hoffman Auto Racing in 2020 and one with Tyler Courtney and Clauson Marshall Racing in 2018. His engines have provided the horsepower for over 50 USAC National Sprint Car Series victories with multiple drivers and teams, including Hunter Schuerenberg and the late Bryan Clauson. Before turning his concentration solely to his engine programs, Gene had a winged sprint car team in Pennsylvania with driver Dave Ely and captured a URC sprint car title as well.
Mr. Franckowiak had a driving career of his own in his earlier years and his passion for the sport of sprint car racing and traditional non-wing sprint car racing has been evident ever since. He is also extremely fortunate to have his wonderful wife Carla by his side, who tolerates his habit as well as us racers very well. Thankfully there are many people like Gene all over the country, as well as the world, who choose to support racing and help teams find success. These unsung heroes certainly do not get the credit or recognition they deserve, but there are countless drivers like myself who are eternally grateful for their contributions to the sport.