As winged sprint car racing continues to climb the ladder of motorsports popularity, the crown jewel events are reaching new heights.
The prize money proves that fact as there are double-digit races this year that pay at least $75,000 to win, including seven that are six figures. Those events are divided closely between the two sanctioning bodies with four on the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series schedule and three under the Kubota High Limit Racing banner.
Huset’s Speedway in Brandon, S.D., was scheduled to award the biggest payout to a race winner this season with the $250,000-to-win BillionAuto.com Huset’s High Bank Nationals, but rain intervened.
Eldora Speedway near Rossburg, Ohio, is the only other track that will host a pair of six-figure sprint car races this year: the $175,000-to-win Kings Royal on July 20 and the $100,000-to-win Jokers Jackpot on July 18.
The 63rd annual NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey’s at Knoxville (Iowa) Raceway pays $190,000 to win on Aug. 10. The Gold Cup Race of Champions at Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico, Calif., awards $100,070 to the winner on Aug. 24 and the Sage Fruit Skagit Nationals at Skagit Speedway in Alger, Wash., will pay the winner $100,000 on Aug. 31.
The Dennis Roth Classic at Thunderbowl Raceway in Tulare, Calif., on Sept. 21 pays $83,000 to win. Danny Dietrich banked $75,000 for topping the Bob Weikert Memorial at Port Royal Speedway in Port Royal, Pa., on May 26 and the 62nd annual National Open at Williams Grove Speedway in Mechanicsburg, Pa., will pay a similar amount to the feature winner on Oct. 5.
Numerous $50,000-to-win events are also spread around the country with even more shows that pay at least $20,000 to win. The World of Outlaws increased its standard payout to a minimum of $12,000 per main event and High Limit Racing pays at least $10,000 to win for preliminary nights, $12,000 for single-day shows and $15,000 for the finale of a doubleheader. Additionally, its Midweek Money Series is at least $20,000 to win.
Simply put, there are numerous opportunities for drivers to make a good amount of money.
The elevated purses for the crown jewel events are part of the heightened intensity during those weeks.
“Any time you can race for the kind of money these tracks and promoters are putting up it helps at the end of the day,” Brian Brown said. “Nine times out of 10 even if you don’t win, you’re putting more in your account than a normal weekend. They are events, too. Lots of people who love going to High Bank Nationals, which has become a crown jewel, Eldora and the Kings Royal weekend, the Tuscarora 50 and, obviously, the end all be all, the Knoxville Nationals.
“Even if it doesn’t put another dime in your account, the level of excitement, the level of electricity in the air, you can definitely feel it. I think this year will be crazier than normal with two different series. It should be an awesome summer for the racers and more importantly the fans.”
A strong performance during a crown jewel event can be a season-maker or can be a heartbreaker if disaster strikes before the checkered flag waves.
“You can be in contention to win all the marquee events in some way, shape or form and have a flat tire at one, a blown engine at another, a simple driver mistake and you wad something up and you’re out $100,000 just like that,” Spencer Bayston said. “It can completely shift a whole season if you perform well at those or aren’t able to. That’s why there’s so much anticipation.”
A six-figure payout is significant to all teams and drivers. In recent years, the top World of Outlaws drivers have collected several hundred thousand dollars over the course of a season. Winning a crown jewel could be one third to a quarter of an entire year’s income.
“Look at last year for the (Donny Schatz) team, they won the Kings Royal,” Carson Macedo said. “That makes up for a lot of things. Any year you can win the Kings Royal is a good year on top of that financially it helps a lot. You think about how many — last year it paid $10,000 to win a World of Outlaws race — you’d have to win 17 races to make that kind of money.”
Bayston has produced strong runs during several crown jewel events, but is seeking his first win.
“You don’t want to pass those up and let them go without taking full advantage of the situation,” he said. “Not every racer gets to race for the kind of money we race for and not every team or driver is able to capitalize on those nights. You want to be one of those teams that takes full advantage of the opportunity to pay some bills, make some money and put your name on a trophy. To be fortunate enough to click off some of those puts you in a different group. You’re in a more elite group. When you have the opportunity to double your income as a team in a handful of races in a season, that’s pretty big.”
In addition to the stout payouts, the prestige is another driving force that amps up the drivers heading into sprint car racing’s marquee events.
“I’m a competitor at heart first so I want to win,” said Daryn Pittman, who stepped away from full-time racing at the end of the 2020 season yet still competes in a couple of crown jewels each year. “As a competitor you want to put your name on those events and in the history book. At the same token when you’re doing it for a living, they are year changing and sometimes life-changing victories.
“I think I’m at a little bit of a disadvantage (not racing regularly), but I wouldn’t do it if I couldn’t compete. I ran the No. 69k car three races last year and I didn’t race a total of 10 or 11 races last year and we finished second at the National Open and led a portion of it. I think we proved you can compete and contend for a marquee event even on a limited schedule.”
Macedo captured the 2021 National Open and has twice posted a podium finish during the Kings Royal as well as a runner-up result during last year’s Eldora Million that offered a record $1 million to win.
“Those races are really important to me,” he said. “Some of my goals in the sport are to win all the crown jewel events. Being that I’ve only won one of them, I feel I have a lot to accomplish.
“Part of it makes me excited I’ve got more I’d like to write into my book. Part makes me anxious; I want to win them and what if I don’t. I look forward to them also because you don’t have to worry about points or the championship or any of that stuff.”
Brown topped the $57,000-to-win Tuscarora 50 at Port Royal Speedway last year and has finished second in the Knoxville Nationals three times.
“You could lose every race of the year and run last and if you won the Knoxville Nationals the other ones don’t matter in my opinion,” he said. “It won’t break your year if you don’t win. If you can go into those crown jewels and knock them out of the park, it puts a star on your season.”
Sheldon Haudenschild has finished in the top five during four of the last five years at the Kings Royal.
“If you’re having a down year and can pull one off it can turn your year around,” he said. “You want to win them because that’s where the money is at and the eyes are. From that sense you want to win them for your sponsors and team and yourself. Those are the ones people remember.”
Reigning World of Outlaws rookie of the year Giovanni Scelzi drove to a $50,000 victory last year and has placed fourth twice in the last three editions of the Knoxville Nationals.
“I watched that ‘Road to Indy’ deal they did,” Scelzi said in reference to the IndyCar show on Netflix. “That’s a unique way those guys look at it. Like, ‘Yeah, I won the championship, but I didn’t win the Indy 500.’ It shows how much one race means to a season.”
Several of the drivers agree that the preparation leading into the crown jewel events largely doesn’t differ from any other weekend.
“The truth of it is it doesn’t matter what you do,” Macedo said. “All of our equipment at Jason Johnson Racing, and I’d say that goes for most World of Outlaws, teams is the same. I would say it’s no harder to win a crown jewel event, to win 100k or 250k or even $1 million, than it is to win a normal $12,000-to-win World of Outlaws show. It’s kind of that lucky one of winning that special race.
“I’d say we prepare the same way as we always do. The only difference is those races don’t pay points and they’re all about the big money. You’re racing for the win rather than settling for a good finish. If you’re close, you’re going to go for it.”
The increased money, attention and intensity creates an opportunity during each crown jewel, making it more of an event than a race.
“Doing the cool stuff during the week, autograph sessions and seeing people that you see only once a year,” Scelzi said. “Once the engine starts, once the helmet is on, you don’t think about the magnitude of what you’re doing. If you do, you’ll probably mess up. But anyone who says they’re not more nervous going into it is probably lying to you or they don’t care enough about the result.”
THIS ARTICLE IS REPOSTED FROM THE July 3 EDITION OF SPEED SPORT INSIDER
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